Abbie and me, after the 5k!
Today, I ran my first race. It was a "Heart and Sole" 5k to benefit the Children's Hospital heart program - perfect for my first race (my sister Audrey died from a heart defect 19 years ago). Although I'll admit, I didn't even know what it was really for until I had already signed up and committed! I'll also admit that even yesterday afternoon, I didn't think I would be running. The kids were going to be with me, so I was going to just push them in the stroller (it was a run/walk, so it's not like I would have been that weird person with a stroller in the race!). However, at the last minute someone agreed to watch my kids and I am so thankful!
I never really thought I would do something like this - run in a real race. I've always claimed that "I hate running", "I am not a runner", and "it's too boring". However, during the last several weeks I started doing some running on the treadmill and it wasn't as bad as I remembered. In fact, thanks to Abbie, I started creating real goals for myself when it came to my running, which makes such a difference with my whole attitude. Instead of a drudgery, it's become a great way to push myself and I feel so proud of myself when I see what my body can accomplish.
This morning was beautiful - chilly but sunny, which was perfect for the run. Abbie showed me how to put my tags on, and showed me the trick of tying my car key to my shoelace (at first I was going to tie the whole keychain buttons that unlock the car, and Abbie said, "are you going to tie that whole thing on??" "Um, yeah, how else am I going to unlock the car if I don't have the buttons?" duh.).
We met up with another friend, Brittany, and wandered to the starting line. There were over 800 people there - this was no small race! It was really neat to be surrounded by so many people with the same goal and I wondered how I would do.
Now, I had no great aspirations for this race. I didn't run at all last week. In fact, only twice in the last month have I gone 3.1 miles on the treadmill. So, I was curious about how I would do, but I didn't really set a goal for myself and had no idea what to expect. My better time (from the previous month on the treadmill) was 39:30. Not very good at all, but for a beginner I think it's respectable.
Anyway, the race started and off we went! However... about 10 feet past the starting line, the woman in front of me tripped and fell down hard on her face! Brittany, Abbie and I stopped to help her up and she had some cuts on her nose - it was a pretty bad fall. There were lots of people around helping, though (including her family), so we eventually just left and started again. Time lost: probably about 15 seconds. Again, not really a big deal for me because I had no real goal for this run. I just wanted to see how I would do.
Abbie and Brittany left me in the dust pretty much immediately, so I turned on my iPod (Mike's original first generation iPod... still works! Thanks Mike.). It's so big and heavy though, and I don't have a strap to wear it, so I had to hold it in my hand the whole time. That was fine, though - it worked well.
I actually felt really good about how I was doing. I didn't have a watch on, so I had no idea what my pace really was. My music was great though and I felt like it was helping me along. Usually on the treadmill I just watch tv while I run but I should probably give some music a try.
There were markers at every mile (apparently), but I didn't see the Mile 1 marker, so I was really lost as to how far I had gone at one point. I really didn't know if I had been running for 10 minutes or 20. I was able to continue running through a handful of songs, then I had to walk for a few minutes. I started feeling really good as I was coming up on the halfway mark (I figured it was halfway because there was a water station). My iPod started playing "The Distance" by Cake and I got a second wind (I know, so cliche, but it's true)! I seriously felt so good and I didn't want to get any water but I knew I would regret it if I didn't, so I grabbed a cup and then proceeded to drink it as I ran. And then I started choking. That kinda threw off my groove a little bit, but I got back into it and was feeling great.
It started getting hard again around 2 miles, but I was in a big group of people and as I looked around me, I started feeling really good about myself because many of the people surrounding me looked to be in pretty good shape! But then just as I started feeling good, I got some bad pains in my chest... not cramps, but real shooting pains throughout my chest. I kept running through them, but - no joke - the song on my iPod was "Listen to your Heart" (DHT techno version), so I thought maybe that was a sign. So I walked for a minute to catch my breath before starting up again. :)
Finally, I hit mile three and I knew that around the corner would be the finish line! I really had NO idea how long I had been running. To be honest, I figured that it had been around 42-45 minutes. I felt like I had walked a lot. I also had to stop and tie my shoe at one point (probably lost about 10 seconds there).
However, as I turned the corner, I saw that the digital clock at the finish line said 35:35! I was so shocked - I sprinted to the end and finished my first 5k at 36:09. HOWEVER... if you take off the 15 seconds at the beginning when I stopped to help the woman who fell, and the 10 seconds of tying my shoe, my time WOULD have been 35:44. To me that just sounds so much better (you know, the minute change). I know, it's still not great, but I think it's a pretty respectable time for a first-timer!
I know... from reading this, you would have thought that I had run an entire marathon by the way I'm going on and on. But I am just so proud of myself and so happy that I accomplished something like this. AND, I am already planning to sign up for my second 5k in April (if I can work the scheduling out, which I think I can do).
I am so thankful for a healthy body. I can run, and walk, and do things. Free of pain, with no obstacles. I am really starting to think of my body differently than I used to. I've never really pushed myself past the point of comfort. Until now. Now, I set a goal and I push my body to achieve that goal. The key is setting small goals, one at a time, and working up to an even bigger goal. Today, I couldn't have set a goal to run this 5k in under 30 minutes. I would never have made it. Someday I would like to, though.
Things I'd really like before my next race, though, include:
-better shoes (I wore my only pair of sneakers, which are about 5-6 years old. I'd love some Asics because I have really high arches. I am already feeling some blisters coming on).
-a cheap digital watch so I know my pace. I really think I would have pushed myself harder if I had known how well I was doing (especially from mile 2-3).
-a small ipod that I can strap to my arm.
-some real workout clothes. I was wearing pants that I have had since high school! :)
