So the end of the Couch to 5K led to this race. Except I really never bothered to check to see when this race coincided with the Couch to 5K. It turned out to be in Week 7. I knew I could run 3 miles, because I had been with some walk breaks. However the week prior I started getting nervous about running total mileage with no walk breaks. I don't like running that way. And then it occurred to me...Don't!
I had restarted the C25K because I cracked my pelvis and needed to start gradually. There was no written rule that said I had to follow it once I got up to 3 miles. So I went back to the Run 4/Walk 1 minute method. Now after the "long run" the previous Saturday, my pelvis started hurting and there was no rain in the forecast so I just took it easy. By Saturday, I felt fine although nervous.
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| SB looks very content that he got to stay in bed. |
D and I got ready for the race. Saturday morning we drove out to College Park, the whopping 8 miles away. It was about 50 degrees and sunny. We got our numbers and sat in the car for awhile. At 745 we got out and went to the starting line.
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| Waiting in the car |
We just stood around and waited. We kissed and then they said, "Go." Despite the chip there was no starting map. There weren't that many people (200 in the 5K, there was also a 10K starting with the 5K) so it wasn't a huge deal.
We ran down Main Street to Rugby where the 5Ker's turned left. I knew I was going fast, but I felt ok. I had already done a 4/1 cycle. I hit another 4 minutes when I should walk break but I still felt strong and I wanted to see if I could get under 12 minutes on the first mile. We turned down Napoleon, Mile 1 clicked by at 11:50. YES! Off Napoleon you turn on to Walker. I thought about what comes down, must always go up. I tried to keep a decent pace but my legs said to take a break. My cycles were now messed up, and I knew there were more hills, I took about a 45 second break (pretty much walked up the rest of the hill). Turned onto Victoria and struggled but kept running. Finally got onto Lyle that was kind of flat, and then had a huge downhill. Some kids passed me on the down hill, but I knew there were more uphills. So I tried to keep as steady as possible. On Pierce it was steep/rolling. Somewhere around here was Mile 2. I missed what my time was. I would run up about 3/4 of a hill and walk the rest, and then run again. I seemed to pass a lot of people this way. Cambridge was just a long hill, I kind of cursed, but told myself to go. The hills were ridiculous. I managed to get myself back in to my cycles, until one just killed me. The pain that shot through my leg was coming from my pelvis, my knee, my ankle, my shin, etc. WTF? I got to the top and there was a bit of flat. I tried running, and no pain. OK, whatever. I was totally turned around on where I was but I finally got onto Hemphill.
Ran down Hemphill to Virginia. On Virginia the first 2 10kers and the cops came by. Yeah, I'm slow. Onto College Avenue. Ah the last hill. It was part of the walk cycle. I saw D. I started walking. hahaha! I got to the crest and resumed running and ran onto the track for my lap. A lot of little kids were finishing up as well. I just ran as hard as I could and I started overtaking one of the little girls. I think she was about 7. Her shirt was too big, and it was sweaty, and she didn't have much left. Since we were on the last turn on the track, I pointed to one of her friends who was behind us, and told her to try to beat the little boy. And to listen to the man who was talking about her (the Sports Commentator Guy would give a play by play of everyone crossing the line). She said ok, looked at the little boy behind us still, and turned on her speed. I slowed up a bit so that she would definitely come in before me. But not so much that the little boy would beat me.
I crossed the line at 41:28. 13 seconds slower than last year. I was happy with it, considering it was my comeback race, it's a hard course, and I slowed down at the end to let a little girl win. D met me and got me some water. We went and got our T-shirts. We didn't wait to see if either of us placed in our age groups. It turned out D came in 3rd in his, and I came in 7th for mine. He didn't get a prize since we left.
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| Done! |
That's ok.
