So I ran two 5Ks - One in April and one of May of this year and was disappointed to say the least. I realized very quickly that I am not an endurance runner of any sort and did not do extremely better on the 2nd one than I did the first. As well, I still felt like I was doing far more walking than running. Never really got into a grove of any kind.....so I kind of started off to fall off the running wagon so to speak.
I just got frustrated with myself and I have always been one to quit rather than to struggle, to give up rather than perservere.
Hey, at least I'm honest about it right?
So after my last 5K, I decided that I would sign up for the Moon in June 5K in June of course as you can tell by its name...but put off actually signing up...and put it off...and put it off....
Until, fastforward, it is now the Tuesday before the race (which is Saturday) and my friend Joanne at the support group asks me if I am going to do it. I waiver...I hmmm...and I haw...and I finally give in and say OKAY.
Well I made a few errors going into this run.
Error 1 - I underestimated the weather. Wore capris and a regular tshirt (dri weave) when I really could have gone for shirts and sleeveless (I am not a fan of sleeveless but I'm all about pushing myself out of my comfort zone). But I was okay despite this error but I could have dressed better for sure.
Error 2 - Depend on your last pair of contacts to get you through the week...then of course, drop and lose your contact and therefore have to wear glasses for the race when you would have far preferred sunglasses to regular glasses.
It was neat though because as I got to the facility where the race was run, I ran into all kinds of people I know from my running class, facebook, students, coworkers etc. I felt like it was kind of a community. Wherever I turned, I bumped into someone I knew.
Well here's the synopsis of the run:
First of all, I felt weird starting the race for the first K and literally after 5 minutes of straight running, I walked for a while, then did this one other time. Then this amazing thing happened - I fell into stride with these two runners ahead of me. They were slow runners and I figured that their pace was good enough that I could do that pretty much the whole time. So I just decided to join behind them and pace them for the race. It was perfect! For the rest of the race, I kept at a slow jog but consistently ran the rest of the race.
So basically, I RAN. I RAN. I RAN!!!! I didn't stop! I kept consistently running and I could do it for the whole rest of the race. I had endurance. I was slow but steady :) It was really, really good. As we were waiting for the race to start I downloaded some music into my IPhone and found a perfect original mix of 80s music to get me going. At about a half K to go, I did pass these ladies though and I booted it to my favourite song of the moment. It was really good :)
The race itself was HUGE by the way. I've never been to a bigger race - HUGE!!
Anyway, I can honestly say that this is the first time that I have felt even remotely like a runner.
Disappointing though - even though I ran most of the event by far...I ran the slowest time of all my races. WHY? Because I ran and well running is FAR harder for me than walking. I am a fast walker. It has very little impact so I can go far faster as a walker than as a runner with high impact on my joints...but I figure if I can keep running, I can definitely improve my time, right?
Yesterday I was so inspired I ran to my friend Lisa's apartment (she's about 2.5 K) away and then I walked for a total of just over 10 miles :) WOOT!!
Dawn
No comments:
Post a Comment