The good, the bad and the ugly

Today's run was less-than-perfect (and I'll get to that in a minute), but I want to start off with the thought that came to me while I was running.  Which was that some days are about failures.  I'm a recovering perfectionist, and some days I am less hard on myself than others.  My general M.O. has been that if I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do something perfectly, I just won't do it.  Not that I'm a quitter, but I just won't even try it.  Which may be why I never tried running before now.

But I've been working on that for a few years, and even more so lately, because honestly, trying to be perfect is hard work.  Not to mention it's impossible.  Someone told me recently that I was a perfectionist "up until now," so I've been trying to see it as something I used to be and am not anymore.  It occurred to me that when I look at things from the point of view of a perfectionist, all I can see is what I can't do, what mistakes I've made, what I could have done better.  That's a real "glass half-empty" view of myself.  But when I look at what I'm able to do, what's possible, and what I've done right, that's more of a "glass half-full" view - much better!

So what does this have to do with running?  Well, today's run wasn't a good one, and I realized that part of being a runner is having it all - the good, the bad, and the ugly.  I've got to accept that there will be bad days, and great days, and that I can't have one without the other.  So despite having a tough week, I can still be a runner. I can still pick myself up after a bad run, and dust myself off, and try again tomorrow.

For today's run, I was coming off of two days rest, after a 40-minute run on Wednesday, which followed three days rest. Not my best week for running.  But between my teeth issues continuing to make me feel yucky and seriously limiting what I can eat, and then my puppy ending up at the vet with bad hot spots, allergies and an ear infection, not to mention disassembling and moving a bed, then assembling two beds in as many days, and whacking my head on a shelf in the process, it just wasn't my week.  

I debated running yesterday, but I was feeling so wiped out, that I figured I'd start fresh today.  That might not have been such a bad thing, but when I got up this morning, the humidity was incredible.  It was only about 60 degrees, but it felt as though I was running while wearing a wet blanket over my head.  Before I headed out, I was trying to decide whether I wanted to do my 35-minute run, or just skip right to the 50-minute run, and then get back to a regular four-day schedule next week.  I opted for the 35-minute run since I'd taken so much time off this week and headed out.  

The whole run was tough, right from the beginning.  Although my body had felt good all morning, as soon as I started running, I could feel the aches in my hips and my lower back - after taking so much Advil last week because of my teeth and my neck, I'm now avoiding it like the plague.  I tried to shake off the aches, but was already checking the time before I'd even hit a mile.  After about 13 minutes, I had to stop to walk. I was dripping with sweat, coughing the humidity out of my lungs, and feeling like I was on fire.  I walked for a minute, and then started running again.  I made it another few minutes, but again, had to stop to walk.  Eventually, I was so overheated that I had to walk for a few minutes.  With about six minutes left to go on my 35-minute goal, I knew I'd have to run the last six in order to have run 27 total minutes.  I pushed myself to do that, and then pushed myself to run another three minutes for a total of 38 minutes - 30 minutes running, and 8 walking.  When I mapped my run, I can see that I did 3.16 miles (which is about what I thought) in 38 minutes, for a 12-minute pace, which really tells me something - I pushed myself too hard when I was running for the level of humidity today.  If I could have relaxed a bit and slowed down, I probably would have been able to run the whole thing without overheating.  

But instead of beating myself up for having an "ugly" run, I'm working on seeing today's run as a success for a couple of reasons:

1) I actually got out there again after a tough week and made myself run.  Not to mention that I still ran 30 out of the 38 minutes.  

2) I learned that I pushed myself to run too fast without really realizing it, and when the weather conditions are telling me to slow down (We're back to checking the old "PE" - Perceived Effort!).

3) I still ran/walked more than three miles, which I never used to be able to do!

I know part of the reason I'm pushing myself and being hard on myself is because I have that 10k coming up in about four weeks, and when I was four weeks away from my 5k's, I was already running that distance. So that makes me really nervous.  But I did run 4 miles the other day, so I think I can push myself up to 6.2 in the next four weeks.  

Tomorrow's run will be a long one - 50 minutes - and hopefully I'll be running close to 5 miles.  We're supposed to get thunderstorms tonight, and I'm hoping that breaks the humidity, so I can run a bit easier!  

Yes, I Took Three Days Off

You know what they say about the best laid plans...

I had every intention of running Monday/Wednesday/Thursday/Saturday this week, but after pushing my body a bit too hard last week, with disappointing results, an ever-worsening pinched nerve in my neck, and waking up feeling like I was getting the swine flu on Monday morning, I thought it was about time to skip a run. My body was rebelling, telling me that I needed a break - no running, no yoga, just lots and lots of rest. And I felt yucky enough that I didn't even feel guilty about skipping the run.

On Tuesday, I thought about running and giving myself an every-other-day schedule for the rest of the week, but I was still not feeling great. So I thought I'd stick to the original plan (minus the Monday run) and hoped that a full three days off would get me back in fighting shape.

I woke up this morning and felt like I'd been run over. My neck was sore, which it usually is first thing in the morning lately, and what I thought was the flu is actually periocornitis, which is a fancy way of saying that the gums around one of my wisdom teeth are infected (which makes me feel like I have a sore throat). I had this confirmed this morning at the dentist, who put me on antibiotics and said he didn't think I needed to have my teeth removed. Sweet.

As the day wore on, I felt a little bit better and decided that I needed to run. As you may remember from the last time I had three consecutive days off, too much time off from running can wreak havoc on my mind. So I knew that if I wanted to get back to it, today was the day. And it's perfect running weather today too - overcast, but with some sun, no humidity, 66 degrees. Just enough to get a chill as I set out in my shorts and tee shirt, which was a good sign for the run.

The first mile was tough, showing me that even three days off can hurt me a little in terms of endurance. I was pushing myself to keep a good pace today, because I want to be down around ten minutes again - I do have that 10k coming up after all! My body felt pretty good - I struggled to find my pace a bit right in the beginning, but once I got settled, I could tell that last week's residual soreness was mostly gone. So though 3 days off hurt me in some ways, I think it helped to let my body recover and remind me why I actually like running!

Miles 2 and 3 were the best - I felt pretty good, there was a nice breeze to keep me cool, and I knew I'd hit close to 2 miles by the halfway mark, which is where I'd hoped to be. Once I reached that last mile though, I was definitely feeling tired. But since I had let myself rest for three days, I wasn't going to take it easy today. I pushed myself to keep up the pace for that last mile and finished where I'd started just a little bit slow, at 40:30. I mapped my run, and it was 3.97 miles, so a 10:11 minute pace. I'm definitely happy with that after three days off! Actually, I'd be happy with that period.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a 35 minute run, but Coach J says to see how I'm feeling and maybe do Friday and Saturday back-to-back instead of today and tomorrow. If I can keep up close to a ten minute pace, I might actually hit almost five miles on Saturday, which would be awesome! But, one day at a time, right?

Starting with Long Runs...

Somedays, I don't have a very successful run. Today was one of those days. 

Ugh.

When my alarm went off at 7 this morning (yes, I know it's Saturday), I definitely wanted to snooze it and get some more sleep.  But I remembered to ask myself "do I really want this?" and that was enough to get me up and out.  Plus, I remembered how itchy and frustrated I'd been the day before, and I knew a run would solve that.

As I started my warm up walk (which I've shortened), I thought, "What a beautiful day this is!" The sun was shining, it was 62 degrees with a lovely breeze - perfect weather, right? Well, yes, perfect for a WALK.  But with high humidity and direct sun, it wasn't so perfect for running.  

I started my run and my body HURT. Muscles, joints, tendons, all of it. The only thing that hasn't been hurting are my feet and ankles.  I kept thinking that my body probably would have benefitted from an extra day off after my races, because I've struggled so much all week.  I've been trying to figure out why that might be, since it was really just two short runs back to back, and I've been running longer distances for a few weeks now, but I just can't figure it out.  All I know is that my body has been more sore and more tired this week than it's been since I started running.

As usual though, I knew I needed at least a mile to warm up my muscles, so I kept at it.  Since it was warm and humid, and my body was so sore, I didn't push myself too hard speed-wise.  My goal was to run 45 minutes today, and I wanted to make sure I met that.  By the time I got to the water, my body had warmed up, but I was really starting to overheat.  Almost none of my route is shaded, so that always makes running in the early morning sun interesting.  My halfway time was 22:30, but in my overheated state, I thought I was supposed to turn earlier, at 23:30, and by the time I realized, I was too tired to turn back around and run further.  Normally that wouldn't be such a big deal, but when I mapped my run when I got home, I realized I'd run 3.96...just 0.04 short of 4 miles.  That frustrated me.  But then I remembered I'd actually run further than where I started running, so when I double-checked my mapping, I realized I'd actually run 4.01 miles.  So more successful than I thought, though it could certainly be better! 

After turning around, I made it to 34 minutes, and I thought I was going to pass out.  I gave myself a minute to walk, which also frustrated me.  But that minute cooled me off enough that I was able to finish the rest of the run without passing out or throwing up, though I was definitely close - and that's key in my book!  I finished past where I started at 45 minutes, so even with one minute of walking, I still had an 11:10 pace.  So as I write this, I'm now thinking the run was a little more successful than I initially believed!  

Earlier this week, I aggravated the pinched nerve in my neck, and it's been getting steadily worse over the past two days, so I'm really looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.  It unfortunately means no yoga, since I have limited motion, but fortunately running only bothers it slightly.  Hopefully tomorrow will bring some relief, though with another two-hour drive ahead of me, I'm not so sure!  Next week, I'll be running Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday and I'm already looking forward to my short run!

Will the Real Athletes Please Show Up?

Yesterday, I was reading a post by one of my favorite bloggers & triathletes, Frozentriette, about what success really means at the end of a workout. Something she said really stuck with me - "I want this and I show up for it." Wow. Right there is the difference between the weekend warriors, and the athletes. She's getting up at 4:30 am to workout, regardless of the temperature, regardless of the weather (and she's in Alaska, so definitely not as mild as it is here!). She went on to say about her workouts that:

"It may or may not go according to my expectations or desires, but
regardless, I'm there. Performance at this stage in my life is irrelative. I would love to arrive at the pool and swim like a fish for an hour and walk away with complete satisfaction.

"However, what truly makes my training a success is the simple act of showing up. Today, and Saturday's race, the performance was not there, but I was. Some days, we connect. Some days we do not. Regardless, I record it in my training log and show up again tomorrow."

Somedays, I want to beat myself up for not being able to run faster or longer, but the truth is that I'll get there. The important thing is that I'm showing up, putting in the work, finishing my workouts. Maybe I struggled on Tuesday with my first post-race run, but I still did it.

Just showing up was the thought that was in my head when the alarm went off this morning. It was another grey, rainy morning, but it was already 63 degrees (of humidity, mostly). I really wanted to sleep in a bit longer, but I asked myself, "Do you really want this?" And since the answer was yes, I got up, put on my running clothes, and headed out the door.

After talking to Coach J yesterday, my goals for the rest of the week are to run 40 minutes today and 45 on Saturday. Yes, kids, this is a 4-run week, which is what I'm now switching to. Gotta get ready for that 18-mile race in October!

I shortened my warm up walk this morning, in part so I would focus on how long I was running instead of the distance. I could tell I was running a bit faster than Tuesday (whew!) but my body is still a bit tired and sore. The first mile was tough on my right leg, which has some serious muscle soreness just behind my knee and lower thigh (makes walking up the stairs a joy, let me tell you!). But on the plus side, my hips felt great until right towards the end of the run, and once I warmed up, I felt pretty strong. I ran further than I ever have and figured I'd stop right where I started, at 40 minutes and 30 seconds. After mapping the run, I know that I ran 3.69 miles, with about a 10:58 pace. Not great, but certainly faster than the 11:43 pace I had on Tuesday! Now I've just got to bring my body up to where my mind already is.

Oh and for anyone who's wondering, I managed to put my socks on the correct feet this morning (On Tuesday, I realized that my socks had a "right" and "left" on them, and I'd been wearing them on the wrong feet all day). I'm not sure it made me faster, but it can't hurt to try!

Next up, a 45-minute run on Saturday, then I'm looking at runs on Monday/Wednesday/Thursday/Saturday next week!

First Post Race Run

With only one day off in between my two 5k race weekend and my first post-race run, I knew I was going to be hurting. After Sunday's race, although I was elated, my hips were also pretty sore, which wasn't helped by a two hour drive home. I was so tired on Sunday night, once the adrenaline and excitement wore off, I could barely move off the couch to make myself some dinner - which was key, since I was STARVING. But eventually I fed myself and spent yesterday at work taking Advil and resting, and then made sure to do some yoga. I slathered on the BioFreeze. I even found my hip stretches from PT and stretched out my hips - I forgot how much some of those stretches could actually hurt!

When I woke up this morning to another gloomy, rainy day, I figured I would put off my run until lunch to give the Advil a chance to kick in and the temperature to warm up a bit. Coach J had told me to run my usual 3.4 miles, but not worry about how fast I got there. Uh, no problem there, since my body was definitely not prepared to let me run very fast.

Although I wasn't expecting much, today's run definitely wasn't great. For the last mile, I actually felt halfway decent - not too tired and my muscles were sore, but warm enough to keep going. But those first two and a half-ish miles were brutal. It was the first time during a run that I really wanted to cry. I felt like there was no cushioning left in my hips and knees, so that every step I took hurt. I took a walking break right after the first half mile because I wanted to take my fleece off - usually, I can do this and run at the same time, but I was so tired, I didn't think I could manage it today. So I walked for a couple of minutes and then ran the rest of the way, for a total of about 40 minutes. MapMyRun tells me I was at about an 11:43 pace, which is actually faster than I thought I was running.

But, I tell myself that the important thing is that I did get out there and run today, no matter how much I was hurting. So now I'm back to icing and Advil, and hoping that another day of rest will make for a great run on Thursday.

Sometimes, I even surprise myself!

WOO HOO ENDORPHINS!

After 5k #1 yesterday, I was totally elated! I was happy to have it over with (after all my nerves) and excited that I met my goal of running the entire time. I was also pretty satisfied with my overall time!

The other thing I was: totally exhausted. After all of the adrenaline wore off and combined with my lack of sleep from the night before and a two hour drive up to my parents' house, I was TIRED. So tired, that I went to bed at nine-thirty, which for this night owl, is almost unheard of! I knew I also had an early start of 6:15 this morning, so I wanted to make sure I got as much sleep as possible. Turns out I just need to be racing in 5k's in order to fall asleep quickly and early!

I woke up a couple of times last night, which I attribute to nerves over this morning's race. I wasn't nearly as nervous as I was for yesterday's until right before we started running, but it was still going to be 5k in a new place, on a course I'd never even seen. Plus, I'd be running with my brother-in-law, former marine and corrections officer, who seems to just be one of those natural runners. I knew he wasn't planning on really going after the race today, because he had to work this afternoon, but I still figured I'd end up left in the dust at some point!

Race registration opened at 7, but with the race being at 9, I didn't think it was necessary to get there anytime before 7:30. We got our numbers (today I was 70) and our tee shirts (yay!) and walked around a little bit to warm up. The weather today was about as good as yesterday, except it definitely felt cooler. I think it might have been less humid, so I was definitely feeling the chilly bite in the air and spotty drops of rain. We spotted the current police class, with their shaved heads and matching tee shirts, and another runner told me they normally keep up a 10-minute pace (which turned out to be more like a 9-minute pace based on when my sister said they came into the finish). When my brother-in-law told me I could pass him and run my own pace, I asked him what he normally runs at. He said he's a pretty consistent 10-minute pace, no matter the distance he's running (unless it's a one-miler).

Sweet.

I mentioned that my fastest time (in training) was actually a 10:14 pace, so I told him that HE could feel free to take off and leave me behind. My legs were feeling okay, but I could definitely tell that the muscles were tired, and my right hip was really complaining - and that was before the race got underway. They had a chiropractic practice there to stretch out and tape the runners, so I thought I'd head over and take advantage of that before starting. The resident doctor asked me about any injuries, and I mentioned that I have bursitis and tendonitis in my hip, as well as trouble with my right hip. He said that if I were his patient, he'd tell me I couldn't run today.

Ha ha.

Right.

Good thing I'm not his patient. Because I was going to run as long as my legs were not broken.

So he started to stretch me out, which definitely pushed my pain threshold in my hips. As in, I probably could have squeezed out a couple of tears if I wasn't so tough (plus, if you know me, you know how I feel about crying in front of people). He talked about this muscle and that tendon, blah, blah, blah, and suggested, along with one of the other chiropractors, that I start up with physical therapy again, etc and so on. Since PT had actually made my hips worse, I'm a bit reticent to jump right back into it. So I plan to see how the hips do and maybe I'll think about it after I run a marathon.

That's right. I said a marathon. But that's more for another post.

Anyway, they taped me up with a fancy athletic tape that can stretch the muscles and aid in getting blood into them. I was loving having to have most of my hip exposed to the general running public so that I could get taped, and I can't say as to whether it really helped me run better or not. But I'm all for seeing what works! They also gave me a number of samples of BioFreeze, which I must admit, is doing a great job of helping my hip and knee tonight, which are definitely feeling the burn of two back to back 5k's.

So the race!

I lined up with my brother-in-law and we got out our headphones. Here, I'll digress again for a minute, because Coach J wanted me to point out that he HATES people wearing headphones during races. Apparently, it's illegal (not as in against the law, but against the rules) in most races - though I didn't see any rules about that in either of my 5k's. His reasoning, which is good, is best illustrated by an experience he had - a guy was trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon, and was running a good pace behind a girl wearing headphones. She abruptly stopped to walk several yards in front of him, and he called out to her to move to the side so that he could pass her. She didn't hear him, because of the headphones, and when she moved right into his path, he tripped and fell. So yes, in those cases, I can see where headphones are irresponsible. I had a similar thing today with a kid who wasn't wearing headphones who abruptly stopped right in front of me on a narrow path about six inches above the ground, without looking behind him. I just about managed to avoid him. So maybe it's just about being conscientious and looking behind you when you stop or move over (which I always try to do). But I will say that I wouldn't wear headphones in a longer or more serious race. Perhaps I will just have to sing out loud to get me through...maybe Chariots of Fire (can you tell that I'm beyond tired and punchy?).

Okay, so back to today's race. They mentioned that there were 400 participants, and I could definitely tell it was a bigger race than yesterday. The proceeds were to benefit the Special Olympics, so that's a great cause to draw a big crowd for. I'd heard from another runner that the course was mostly flat (phew!), so I planned to try to keep up with my brother-in-law. My goal was to beat yesterday's time, which I know is a big no-no after racing the day before. Most of the other runners I know were telling me to go out and enjoy it, but not expect to run as fast, because I would be tired. But I'm such a type-A personality that even though I mostly wanted to just finish this whole race running, I *really* wanted to beat my time.

A police siren blared to start off the race (gotta love a police-hosted race, so many cops there!), and we were off! I started a timer on my phone so that I could tell roughly how I was doing time-wise. With so many runners sticking to a narrow path (we were in a park, not on the road like yesterday), it was tough to find a good pace right away, and I was worried it would really slow us down. We had to speed up a bit a couple of times to pass people and find some space, and I could definitely feel those little bursts of speed in my tired muscles. I reminded myself that I always feel tired for the first mile, and just thought about hanging in there.

Although I was very good yesterday about starting slower than I thought I should, thanks to everyone's advice, today, we definitely started a bit faster than I normally would have. I could feel myself get tired quickly and fell back a few steps from my brother-in-law. The back of his tee shirt said "Make it Happen," so as long as I was able to keep that in front of me, I felt pretty good. They didn't seem to have any mile markers, so it was anyone's guess as to what we ran the first mile in. I knew my general time should have had me between ten and eleven minutes, so I used that as my mental marker for the first mile. I was really tired by the end of that first mile, and struggling a bit. I fell back a bit from my brother-in-law, who was so nice and slowed down so that I could keep up with him - he did that a couple of times, and really didn't have to. I definitely credit him for encouraging me to end up where I did at the end of the race. My sister picked a good guy!

As we were well into mile 2, I started to think that it must be the hardest mile of a 5k race, because you're past the excitement of the first mile, but not yet into the final push of the last mile. I still had no idea of where the end of the second mile was, but when I saw a second water station, with a small "#2 mile" sign and checked my stopwatch, I was pumped to see it was at 19:52. I knew I'd started it a few seconds late, but if we were keeping up a 10 minute pace and I could put in a big push for the third mile, I knew we'd finish strong!

I really focused on leading with my hips that last mile, which seemed to help me feel less tired. I pushed myself hard, and even with a couple of little hills, managed to mostly keep up with my brother in law. By this point, a LOT of people had passed us - I guess a police race really brings out the true athletes, because almost everyone looked to be in great shape. There were a couple of people who looked pretty strong at the beginning, but ended up walking after the first mile, so that was encouraging for me. But it was still tough to be passed by so many people! I had to remember that running is more about me battling myself and not competing against other people, but I am naturally a bit competitive.

As the lights of the police cruiser came into sight, we knew that the end was near! On the big race clock, I could see it counting up from 30 minutes still - holy cow!! My brother-in-law and I put on a BIG burst of speed (just like I did yesterday), but I really don't know how I managed it because I was SO much more tired at the end of the race. We crossed the finish line at 31:02, giving me a 10-minute pace today - WA-FRICKEN-HOO!! Not only is that my fastest time EVER, but it's also 1:45 FASTER than yesterday!

I wanted to throw a party!

I wanted to lie down.

But instead, we walked a bit to keep from cramping up, grabbed half a banana and some water and celebrated with my sister, my niece, and my mom, who were there to cheer us on today! Yay! Since it was raining, we didn't want to stick around, and a celebration pancake breakfast was calling our names. So we headed to our hometown Jersey diner (ah...) for a well-deserved breakfast. It tasted so good!

FINALLY, they posted the race results online, in a place that I could find them - only took a few hours of web searching. Looks like I came in with an official 10:00 pace - WOO HOO! And I was 179/311, which, when I look at yesterday's race, I realize that I came in in the top 75% yesterday, but today, I came in in the top 58% - WOW! For my age group, I was still #9, but out of 17 this time, putting me in the top 53%, up from 60% yesterday. And I beat most of the younger girls in my age group - only four of the girls in my age group who beat me were younger than 28 (9 total girls with faster times were younger than 28)! It also looks like I came in 50th out of 126 women, so in the top 40% - cool! Now I am totally excited about today's race!! But mostly, I'm just thrilled that I got my first ever 5k done (cross that off my life goals list!) and that I ran two great (for me) races back to back. Yay!

So after another two hour drive back home (plus 30 minutes each way to both races), I am so tired and so sore, along with being SO happy. My hip does not thank me for running, and for the first time since I've started running, I'm feeling some real soreness & tightness in my muscles. I love it.

I talked to Coach J earlier, who has already got me thinking about my next step (no rest for the weary). He wants me to run again on Tuesday, so my body doesn't have too much time off, and I think that makes sense (though I *was* hoping for a Wednesday run). He says I can take as much time as I need to run my usual 3.4, but I need to run it. I'm ready. Well, I'll be ready on Tuesday. Plus, I have to make sure to move my muscles a bit tomorrow so they're not too stiff. No running, but I think yoga is definitely in the cards as is walking my puppy (despite the seven day rain forecast). Then, I'm ramping up to running four days a week, so we can see how that affects my body, and I'm in search of a 10k for early June, to be followed by a half marathon in August or September. Ah, I can almost picture running 13.1 miles in the August heat. But I have to say that after this weekend, I *finally* feel like a real runner, and I'm definitely hooked. Though I'm also very very tired...

I just want to say thanks again to all my family and friends (real life and online), whose support, enthusiasm, and advice both got me through my early run/walk days and this weekend's two 5k's. If I was alone in this, I definitely would have stopped on day 1 and everyone's strong belief in me means more to me than I can ever say.

I Ran My First 5k!!!

So this morning was my first ever 5k - the 18th Annual River to Bay 5k in Victorian Island Heights, NJ. To say I was nervous would have been an understatement. Yesterday, I was practically jumping out of my skin all day. I got lots of great encouragement from my coach, friends, family and tweeters, so I filed that away to push myself on the run this morning. I wanted to get a look at the course, because someone had mentioned to me that Victorian Island Heights was pretty hilly (yikes!), so I headed out there yesterday afternoon and drove the course. It was fairly flat, but there was one big hill, right after the mile two marker, and I knew it would be my nemesis.

After taking twice as long to get home as it had taken to drive there (um, why did I decide to go anywhere on a rainy Friday afternoon at the beach??), I tried to get myself ready. I packed a bag of the things I would want, a sweatshirt that would stay dry in the car in case I got soaked, a protein bar and a banana, some water, my race confirmation, etc. I set out my clothes for the morning - my running tights, socks, sneakers, tee shirt, fleece and shorts in case it ended up being warmer than I thought. I checked the forecast about fifty times, and it always said the same thing - at 10am, 58 degrees, with a 50% chance of rain and 75% humidity. Ah humidity.

I was happy that I knew where the course was, and that I'd run in the rain before, but I was still nervous. I wanted to leave my house by 7:45 this morning, just to make sure I got there in plenty of time.

When I arrived, it was pouring - lovely. As I drove into the parking lot, I rolled down my window to talk to one of the guys directing traffic, and he said "You look like a runner!" Sweet. I have arrived.

I parked P MINI and headed into registration, which had opened early. One of the guys manning registration thought I looked like a "Carol" (really?), but we sorted out my actual name and I got my bag (plus free tee shirt! And free pens - I love free pens, they're all I write with!). My race number was 101. Now it was official - no turning back!

I cooled my heels in the car for a while, listening to some pump up music, trying to read the paper to distract myself, and posting updates and thank you's on twitter/Facebook. I heard the starting gun go off for the 1mile fun run, and 1mile health walk, and knew we were the next to go. With about half an hour to go, I found some pins to attach my number with, and hit the ladies room (along with almost every other woman there) before I walked over to the starting line. I saw that a lot of people had their headphones on, so I was really glad that I'd brought mine. I knew my playlist would calm me down and make me think it was just like any other run.

I backed up a bit in the group, because I wanted to make sure I wasn't run over right away! Everyone's advice was to start slower than I thought I should be running, because adrenaline would make me want to go faster, and I'd tire myself out too quickly. As we got closer and closer to race time, I could definitely feel the adrenaline racing and my heart pumping - I was so nervous!

Finally, the starting gun sounded and we were off! I forced myself to run a bit slower than I wanted to, and focused on leading with my hips, as per Miss Ive's suggestion. My body felt great for a change, which I think was definitely adrenaline! It was still raining a little, but that kept me cool and I just settled in for the run. A lot of people were passing me, but I knew I'd pass a lot of people later on because I was playing it smart and starting slower.

At the end of mile 1, I was at 10:47 - not bad, but not great. I knew I could run faster than that, but I also knew that I had that big hill coming up, and I didn't want to tire myself out too quickly and be forced to walk. So I just kept going and sticking with my pace and after about another half a mile, a lot of people started walking. I was happy that I was still running and it seemed my playlist knew I needed some great songs, so that kept me going too.

Mile 2, I was at 21:51, so I had an 11:04 pace for mile two. Again, could have been faster, but I was happy that I was still running and feeling pretty good. My hip was feeling a bit sore by this point, but with the rain, that's to be expected! Then, the dreaded hill was coming up...

My sister had pointed out to me yesterday that at least I knew it was coming, so I was grateful for that. A guy next to me sped up so that he could reach the top faster, but I knew that it would kill me if I did that, so I just tried to keep my pace up. My goal was to run the entire race, no matter what speed, so I focused on that and before I knew it, I was at the top! That same guy who sped up had to stop for a coughing fit, and I ended up passing him.

So then, it was all downhill (some of it literally). I knew I only had 1.1 miles to go, so I sped up as much as I could. After another 1/2 a mile, I was at 28:38, which meant I'd run half a mile in 6:27, a bit slow, but again, not bad. I really started to push myself and soon enough, I could see the finish line! There were a lot of people standing there and cheering as the runners came in and I could see one guy ahead of me. I really pulled out all the stops and ran as fast as I could past that guy (who turned out to be 64 years old) into the finish!! I unfortunately missed my official time, but since the race results are up already, I know that it was 32:47 - yay!! That puts me at a 10:33 pace, which is slower than my run on Wednesday, but considering it was a course I'd never run before, and there was that big hill, I'm very happy with it!

So out of 260 people, I came in 195th, placed 77/115 women, and 9/15 in my age group. I'd say that's pretty darn good!

Now, I can rest, but only for a little while, because tomorrow, is 5k #2 - the Hot Pursuit fun run, which I'll be running in with my brother-in-law. Apparently, he's nervous that I'll beat him...but he's a former marine, and a corrections officer, so really, the odds of that happening are slim to none. I just hope it's flat...

And a BIG THANK YOU goes out to all of my friends and family who have been so unbelievably supportive of me during this whole running process! I couldn't have done it without you!