I have been away from running, and miss it. For me running is my therapy. I get to think while I am running. One of my friends was holding a 5K for CHD awareness. I decided this was the perfect time to go back to racing. I decided after the Marathon that I wanted to focus on getting healthy, then back to running. I planned on doing 5k here and there. Next year I want to train for a half marathon. I am going to wait a while before tackling another marathon.
The race was about an hour from my house. I got up, got everything together and headed down to the race. It was raining when I left. I started having marathon flashbacks. Good ones and not so good ones. I then stopped myself and focused. I knew that this was a 5K and I could do it. I kept telling myself not to worry about a pace. I wanted simply to run the entire 5K and finish. I know that I have not been training, so having a PR was not in the cards.
When I got there, I got my number then started my normal pre race ritual. I got my running belt on, attached my number. I made sure that my garmin had found a signal, and then turned it off, since I had a while before the run. I then made sure that I had the right song list on my iPod Shuffle. Then I walked around and watched. Soon after that they had a kids mile. I am glad it was before the 5K because I got to watch it. The kids were so cute running around the track.
After they finished, we headed to the starting line. I was so nervous. I knew that I could do it, but worried that I would have the shin splints again. I started off, looked down about 1/4 of the mile in and saw that I was at a 8:45 pace. I knew that was way too fast, so I slowed down. My goal was to be right around 10:00 pace the entire time. I was so concerned with my garmin not with how I felt. This was a problem for me because I found that it over came me. The only good part was I was not panicked with thoughts that I could not do it.
As I was coming in to the end I set sights on 3 people I wanted to pass. I did, but too early, the last bit I started to slow down, and of course they passed me. Oh well I will eventually learn when to kick it in at the end. I felt strong the entire run. I finished in 31:18, not too bad. 48th over all. I am proud of my accomplishment. I know that as I keep running I will get faster. I love racing, it is a great feeling of accomplishment when I cross the finish line. I suggest that everyone do it!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment