The Rat Race - My "1st" 5K

I completed my "1st" 5K today!! I say "1st" because I technically participated in one about 10 years ago, but I stopped training for it about a month before the race. I ran/walked anyway, but I didn't really compete, per se. By the way, I finished that one in 38:43. Pretty bad. So, today's race is what I am calling my FIRST 5K because this race is where I set my own personal record for the first time. This is the time I will be competing against for the rest of my training, always striving to shave a little time off that clock.
The event was the "Rat Race" in Holland, and the weather was beautiful! Two of my close friends, Amy R. and Karen C., competed with me. They are much faster runners than me, so they finished much earlier than I did and came back to finish the race with me! It was nice to have the little boost at the end, some friendly voices and faces cheering me on and running with me to the very end. The course was relatively flat, with the worst incline being at the very end. The hill wasn't so bad to climb, since I was amongst friends! Plus, Will, Maya, and Liam were standing at the top of the hill, waiting to see me and cheer me on. Now, THAT'S good motivation! I could see Maya smile once she realized that she was looking at me. It was cute. I felt like I maintained a consistent pace throughout the race, only walking for a few steps to drink some water at the half-way point. I have a lot to learn about running still, and I think, for the most part, it's only stuff that you can learn by trial and error. For example, it was probably 30 degrees when we started running, but by mile 1, I was sweating to death and wanted to strip off half of my clothes! The night before the race, I bought some "Smartwool" socks, which were AWESOME and some running gloves (the kind with the convertible mittens) that have "iPod finger" openings in them. I need some actual running clothes, but I feel like it's pointless when I'm losing weight. I don't want to spend money on nice running gear and not be able to wear it again next year. For now, I'll continue to freeze at the start of a run and sweat to death at the end because I refuse to buy "fat" running clothes! Anyway, back to the race... I felt really good once I got the first mile under my belt. I was trying to focus on my form, relaxing my arms, so my neck and shoulders didn't get too tense. It's kind of hard to fight what you naturally want to do, so that's going to take some practice. I'm getting all kinds of good tips from a book that Will bought me for Valentine's Day, "The Non-Runner's Guide to Running a Marathon". Another tip is geared toward the mental aspect of running, and I'm trying to put into use for a negative event that happened during the last mile of the race... I was approaching an intersection with a group of other runners, and the police officer who was directing traffic was letting the cars go through the intersection. I kept thinking, "Okay, he's going to stop the cars soon," but as the first people in the group got to the officer, he kept letting cars go by. By the time I reached the intersection, he was STILL letting cars go by! I turned to a girl who had been waiting and said, "I guess that since we're slower, we don't matter!" I was PISSED! I kept slowly inching out toward the traffic, and finally after about 10-15 seconds went by, I just yelled, "COME ON!!!" After another handful of cars went by, he finally let us continue on in the race. The thing that makes me SO mad is that I know he wouldn't have done that to the fast runners, the leaders of the race, so it was like a slap in the face, as if to say, "You're slower. You're clearly not going to medal, so who cares what time you get? It doesn't matter anyway." Let me tell you, I was completely aware of ALL of those things, and my time DID matter to me! It was completely demoralizing! So, back to the healthy mental trick... Any time you have a negative thought or want to say something negative, you should end it with, "...but it doesn't matter." For example, "The police officer interfered with my race time, but it doesn't matter." Because, really it DOESN'T matter. There's nothing that can be done to change what happened, so I need to just let it go! Also, even though he interfered with my race time, I STILL finished UNDER my goal time! So, there!! Hahaha.... I just love this picture... Maya looks very proud of me!
Speaking of times, I expected to finish in 36 minutes. I was hoping for 35 minutes. My official time was 33:20!!! I blew my 35 out of the water! I was SO EXCITED! All smiles, as I go to pick up my babies...
Here, I'm pretty red in the face but VERY happy! I averaged 11 minute miles! Yay!
We learned the hard way that taking the kids to running events might not be the best thing to do. I guess Maya started crying as soon as she saw me run by (at the start of the race) because she wanted me, and both kids were pretty antsy throughout the entire race. Will was a saint to wrangle the kids, so they could be there at the finish line for me. In theory, it's really nice to have them there, seeing me in all my running glory, but I think the reality is they are just too young for it to be enjoyable for them (or us). We decided today that Chicago is out for them, and they probably won't go to another race for awhile. It's just tough to entertain them for that long, and it's not really fair to expect them to sit still for that long, either. It will be better when they're older. Here's one of Will's successful attempts at entertainment. Liam loves going up-side-down, so this always brings a smile to his face...
As we waited for the awards ceremony, Maya found some puppies, Marshmallow and Cinnamon, to play with. Here, she's loving up on Cinnamon... (as a side note, the 14 year old holding the dog, ran this race in 21 minutes!) This picture is kind of blurry, but you can still see the pure joy in her face...
Go, Karen! She was very excited to finish 3rd in the 26-30 age group. I finished 11th (out of 13) in the same group. Paige and Karen's mom inspect her hardware...
Woo-hoo, Amy! She was the 2nd place finisher in the 36-40 age group! She's thrilled with her medal, and she should be!! I think both girls finished with a time of 26-something. They rock!!
Here's me and my girls...
And my #1 fans... : )
I can't tell you how excited I am to be on this journey. Running is turning out to be good for my body and my soul. I am finding that I've lost focus on losing weight (in a good way) because it's a natural benefit of running. I no longer have to think and obsess about it all the time. All I have to do is keep running and fuel my body for exercise, and the weight will come off. I like that! I'm also learning to challenge myself on a continual basis, and I'm surprising myself with my ability to rise to the occasion every single time! I'm gaining confidence, and I'm amazed by how far I've come in such a short period of time. Two months ago, I could BARELY run a 12 min/mi pace for 2 minutes. Today, I ran an 11 min/mi pace for 33 minutes!! That's AWESOME! I'm becoming the runner that I've always wanted to be. I remember in high school, I was always envious of the long distance runners, and always told myself, "I'm not built for running. I just can't do it. I'm not a runner." WHY??? I still don't think I'm "built" for running, but guess what? Now I believe in myself enough to know that I WILL have a runner's body eventually because I'm determined to build one. I can do it now, and I can't wait to see what it feels like to run 65 pounds from now! I'm so proud of everything I've accomplished, and I know I will just keep going from here. I'm finally confident enough to say...

I AM A RUNNER.