I'm a little tired physically -- not much more than the hard training sessions I've been putting in the past two weeks. But you know what? When I lined up yesterday with 2,000 other folks -- I *knew* I might not be the fastest [or slowest], but I was SURE I had the distance.
Not like after that other 'F1ASCO OF A 5K'. I'm not even counting it as 'official'. In my mind, it was really a practice run to get my feet wet. Was it good that I did it? Yes. The doubt it left in my mind made me WORK harder to forget about the time and go for the distance. Work the different terrains and hills. You want HILLS? P1ttsburgh is the place.
I had also decided to run without mus1c/headph0nes. I wanted to talk to my cous1n and to really take in all the sights and sounds. It was the right thing for me to do. I let my body tell me how fast to run, I knew I had the adrenaline on my side too. I meant what I said to a friend: Nothing is for sure. I ran that race like it was going to be the only one -- I wanted to make it count.
The best I can tell, I was 40th out of 49th in my age group.
I don't care. I also posted my RUNKEEP3R RESULTS
If you compare them to what I'd been running the past two weeks, it's QUITE an improvement. THAT'S why I don't care where I placed in my age group... or that I was 1063 out of 1159.
I wasn't scared... I RAN. I. AM. A. RUNNER.
And you know what? If I hadn't been at the back of the pack -- I wouldn't have seen that wonderful sight of all the runners ahead of me going up and across the bridges. We went over TWO and they were STEEP. IT. WAS. AMAZING. I looked for a photo -- but all of them were taken from a different height other than ground level and you just don't get the same perspective.
My cous1n stayed with me for 1/2 of the race. Her 11 y/o s0n was struggling to keep up with his 15 y/o s1ster -- so she walked with him and the 15 y/o ran ahead. She is a true athlete and finished 22nd in her age group -- and that's after keeping pace with her brother for 1.5 miles!! I worked ahead at my own pace.
I talked to some of the other runners/walkers. Some folks did a combination of both -- which I understand, BUT. I. HATE. To me, it's like setting the cruise on the highway -- it's the STEADY speed/time that gets you there sooner. Not the walk/sprint method. But, that's me. What made it difficult was I ended up navigating the same 10 people because they'd walk and then sprint ahead of me. Then when they walked, I'd pass them... ad nauseum.
I made sure that I nodded to all the mil1tary/p0lice/v0lunteers along the race route. I wanted them to know that I appreciated their support. My ONLY complaint was that the 'watering station' was too late in the race. It literally was about the 2.67 mile... I could SEE the Finish Line. I could've used it about 1.76 miles, but that was me.
My body also knows when I get over 2.5 miles -- the pad of my right foot starts to burn. And I know I need to take my mind off the 'burning' and re-focus. That helped. I also play what I call: 'FARTLEK M1ND GAMES'... I set goals and play games with myself. Just make it to the next stop sign. Make it to the next stop light. Make it to the next fire hydrant. I keep my eyes ahead and re-focus. There was one more HILL about 1/4 a mile before the Finish Line... and it was hard -- but I did it. I'm so glad I worked hills -- and remembered to TELL MYSELF to use my thighs to lift my feet. Pump my arms... keep moving forward. But I also learned that it's not the HILLS I can't run -- it's expending all that energy then when I get to the top, I'm TIRED and need to work on THAT recovery.
But I did it. And I kept my feet moving. I didn't WALK at all. I RAN THE WHOLE RACE.
It was actually fun to talk to the other runners/walkers. I was about 15 feet behind a heavy-set girl, who was running with her 'coach'. I saw a number of other runners stopping to talk to her also -- they were encouraging her. They all had the same shirts and were on the same team to raise $$ for Lap T0ps for kids. I figured she probably was working with them or had a kid involved in the program. She was really struggling towards the end and I caught up to her... about 400 yards from the Finish Line, I said to her: I can smell the Finish Line from here -- WE GOT this -- and I heard there were Pancakes at the Finish Line!
As we ran together, I said: Look at that Finish Line -- we're not the first ones and we won't be the last ones across it. But guess what? It's the same damned Finish Line and we're gonna cross it!
And you should've seen the smile on her face! Sometimes you just KNOW you're in the right place at the right time... because I wasn't just encouraging her -- but also myself. Her coach smiled and agreed with me and told us BOTH to run -- to leave it ALL on the course.
At that point -- I was about 100 yards from the Finish Line and I could see the clock. I could see it go from 43:59 to 44:00 and I took off. I kept my eyes on that clock and I made up my mind that it wasn't going to get to 45:00 before I crossed the Finish Line.
I ran so fast... I had NO idea where my br0ther and c0usin were at the Finish Line. I just RAN and RAN and RAN. And when I went across, I made sure to keep my head up, smile and get my JAZZ HANDS going! [Which is part of the reason I couldn’t wait to see the Official Photos.]
I. WAS. RUN. NING. And it was A-MA-ZING.
All those weeks of training. All the sweat... the emotions... the disappointments... no longer mattered. I crossed the Finish Line in Style.
And guess what? I can't WAIT to do it again.
I don't know what I'm going to do next -- my 15 y/o cousin challenged me to do a 1Ok with her at the end of September. I would really like to go back to the C25K program and work on my speed/pacing. Then possibly begin the Bridge to 1Ok. But I also have to be realistic about my body and such hard training. The other side of that is -- I like to have a goal to work towards, so I really would like to do the C25K and run another 5k before I move to the 1Ok.
I need a bit of a physical break, but I really DO like running and I want to continue to do it. Fabulous stress reliever. And I get ITCHY if I don't run.
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