If you check my fan page "Digital Mustard" on Facebook, you would have seen that I actually did pretty well, despite how I felt about the whole thing.
Even though I had made it through all the training, I was still a little nervous for the run. I think that no matter how prepared I am for a race I will always be a little nervous. The biggest thing on my mind was the course.
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| This shows the hills, and ironically my emotions during the race. |
The other thing that I did not like about the race, was that it was a turn around rather than a loop. There is nothing more daunting to me than knowing that I'm not half way done until I'm running the other direction and seeing the fast runners running the other direction before I'm even close to the turn around.
The first half of the run was pretty crappy, it took me about a mile to get warmed up and to figure out my pace. And then something terrible happened. I had to walk before I got to the turn around. This destroyed me mentally. The problem was, the hills were so steep and so close together, there was hardly and recovery time and walking was my only option. The nice thing was, I only walked for a short amount of time and picked it right back up.
Dennis was waiting for me at the halfway point and could see that I was struggling. He assured me that I was at a good pace and that I was past the hard part.
There was a good amount of downhill after the turn around and I tried to use the momentum as much as I could, but still knowing that I had to make up for some lost time when I was walking. Then I got to mile 5. Check out that steep ass hill at mile five on the chart. I wanted to cry. But instead, I walked until I felt like I could run, and I ran until I needed to walk. Once I got to the peak of that hill, I ran as far as I could go. Then I started doing this slinky thing where I would run, then walk, then run, then walk, until finally this very nice gentleman came along side me and said, hey jog with me, and I'll get you to the end.
He noticed my running/walking and said that he'd keep me at a nice in between pace and that we would finish in under an hour. What a really nice guy! And then he told me that last year he was diagnosed with lung cancer and only had one lung. Seriously, now walking was NOT an option.
And then at 58:47, I crossed the finish line into the arms of a VERY proud Dennis. I can't remember the last time I've seen a smile that big on his face.
I honestly do not know how on earth I finished under an hour. I thought I was going super slow and especially with all the walking I did, I didn't think I had a chance. Thank GOD I didn't give up. I had set my phone to track my speed, but for whatever reason it didn't work and I was running completely in the dark as far as my time and pace. I was happy with my time, but I wasn't too happy about my performance, but now I know I really need to work on pacing and sticking to the training program is imperative to being able to endure the long distances.
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| Blood, Sweat, Tears, and my Lucky Running Hat! |
5k down, 10k down, onto the 10 Miler and Half Marathon! Whoop Whoop!
Friday:
3 Mile Run
Saturday:
Rest
Sunday:
10K in 58:47....NEW PR!
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