Race Recap-Avery

***Seem to have an odd issue with the text background colour here...And I can't figure out how to fix it***

Next up in our recap series (if you can call it that when I am too tired to post for a month) is Avery.  Avery is my youngest sister and I could not be prouder of her for all she accomplished training for and participating in The Run.  Avery was an early adopter, committing to Cooper's Troopers soon after registration opened.  She was not a runner before then, and started with the Couch to 10K program.  She was diligent with her training, often coming by after a long day at work to run on our treadmill.   As she approached the completion of C210K she started having significant pain and swelling in her ankle.  Like a true (stupid) runner she tried for awhile to run through it, very unsuccessfully.  She soon found out she had a stress fracture in her ankle.  She adhered to her Doctors instructions to rest, and gave her body a chance to heal.  At long last she restarted her training.  She had lost a lot of ground and had to start out slow to test her ankle, but she persevered and prepared herself over the weeks and months to complete 15.6km.  Her resiliency and commitment is inspiring!  I was so proud as I watched her bounce back and succeed.  Enough from me...Here's what Avery had to say about The Sears Great Canadian Run!!!

After months of training for the run, I could not believe it was here! I was excited but SO nervous! My legs of the race were in the afternoon so I spent the morning cheering on the other members of our team. Suddenly it was my turn and the nerves got bad...really bad. After a pep talk from my team members and Mike (my husband and our race day driver), I was off. I tried to pace myself, I knew I had 15.6 km to do with the first leg being full of hills...judging by how stiff my calves were, the excitement of race day was making me run faster then I meant to but I kept with it. I was determined to not take a walking break. As I ran I'd tell myself, 2 songs and I can have a jelly bean (my fuel of choice), yes I am like a 2 year old, bribe me with candy and sure I'll keep running! Then I saw what looked like a mountain coming up! Ok it wasn't a mountain, but it was the biggest hill I had ever run ...this required 2 jelly beans. Half way up the hill just when I was thinking of succumbing to walking, there was Tj, Lesley, Eliza and Grace cheering me on and boy did that give the extra push I needed to get to the top without stopping. The down hill was much nicer and led me right into the checkpoint where I stopped for a minute for team support a kiss from Mike and carried on. 

The second leg was half the length of the first. The half way sign for the leg came up fast, the 1 more km sign...not so much (I didn't know until I hit the checkpoint that there was no 1 more km sign on that leg). Running through the forest I could have sworn I was lost, which is easy for me. The only reason I didn't stop was the glimpses I got of another runner. At least if I was lost I wasn't the only one. I came up to the end of the trail and there was a police officer directing traffic who reassured me my final checkpoint was right around the corner. So around the corner I went and there were my teammates, Mike and my parents cheering me on...I was tired but I only had 30 more feet to go and I pushed it. I was done! After all the training I was done and I was proud of myself. Not only was I grateful for the support from friends and family but the serenades, conversations, high fives and fist bumps from total strangers. I was amazed by strangers coming together to support each other and raise money for such a worthy cause! I cannot wait for round 2 next year!