When I visualized the finish, this is exactly what I had in mind. . I had the biggest smile on my face for most of the last few kms coming down Sugar Mtn once I knew I was going to finish in under 7 hours. . Mostly downhill then just a couple of hills and the short flat path along the lake to the beach finish. . I’d catch a couple of others on this last stretch which seemed to motivate ‘em to pick up their pace so as not to lose their position. . I thought about a sprint to the finish and wondered if I had enough in the tank to have a go. I’d already passed a bunch of runners coming down Sugar and wondered how I imagined this finish would go down. . Reflecting back, I wanted to enjoy the finish. I wanted to come in knowing that I had stuck to my game plan and achieved my goal. I visualised it a few times: running down the sunny beach, coming in and hearing @jcroz call my name with friends cheering, and @garyrobbins ready to congratulate me at the finish. . And that’s when I realised that racing for me still isn’t about finishing ahead of someone else, but instead finishing better than I did before. And because I now knew that would be the case, I let my foot off the pedal and enjoyed the view of the lake as I watched the beach get closer with every step. . So just as the previous finisher crossed the line, I came in to the picture, the sun peaked out just a touch through the clouds, John called out my name once he heard @flowerinmyhair28 call it out, and I took my sweet ass time striding into the finish, savouring every last step from today’s epic run. . Exactly how I had envisioned it. . Thx for 📷 the picture perfect moment, @simone_kumar! . . . #letsgo #enjoyeberystep #run #rustagram #instarunners #running #runner #trail #trailrunners #trailrunning #wearetherunners #beach #finishline #ultrarunner #50k #diezvista50 #dv50 #whitepinebeach #runaddict #mountainrunning #nbrunning #newbalance (at White Pine Beach,)