Saturday, June 13, 2009

First 5K and first state done!

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So after tossing and turning all night from nerves and anticipation, my first alarm finally went off. By this point I wasn't really sleeping, more like waiting in bed biding my time to get up and going. Before I knew it, it was 8:05 and we needed to head out. We cruised to Cutlerville, tracked down the group and Erin showed up with our race bags containing our tee shirts, timing chips, bibs, and surprise tees that she had made for us. Of course we booked it to go change and put her tees on for the race asap. My parents even showed up to surprise me(thanks guys!), and the rain even held off for most of the run. I'll admit it, I was SO nervous lining up and even after the start. It honestly took me a good couple of minutes to hit a steady pace and settle into the run. The first mile dragged on the longest for me, it was a pretty flat straight-away and just followed city blocks. When I hit the first clock at that first mile and it was something around 10:13, I told myself to kick it in gear. Mile two went faster, cutting through blocks, and zigzagging through the slower runners. I felt like mile three went the fastest, mainly because it was the last mile. Although I misjudged how much was left of the run and picked up the pace again a little too soon. I was really pushing it at the end, but then I saw Geoff, Erin's husband, cheering me on. And then a bit closer to the finish line, Erin was there cheering and it gave me that last little boost I needed to finish strong. I checked my watched as I crossed the line and saw 30 minutes and 23 seconds, which, bummed me out a bit. Last week I'd done it in 30:15, then I thought about it some more and realized it was still a huge accomplishment. I did it on my own pacing this time, and finished feeling pretty decent body and breathing wise. So I crossed the line and immediately grabbed a water, totally missing Brian Diemer giving high fives to the finishers. I didn't realize this until Rex pointed it out to me at lunch after the race. I also got a nice surprise when I checked my actual chip race time, 30 minutes and 18 seconds! Not under 30 minutes, but a bit closer to what I ran before, which made my day! Overall it was just an amazing experience. One I'll definitely be doing again.

Race Stats: Brian Diemer 5K Run
Bib #648
Actual chip finish time: 30 minutes, 18 seconds!!!
Place among my age group 25-29 year olds: 69th out of 118
Overall female place: 396th
Overall place: 1096th
Total runners: 1,437
Total female runners: 702

Biggest lessons learned today:
1)Don't pick up the end of the race pace too soon
2)Grab water at the 2 mile marker

And, because I LOVE pictures...here are some from the day, enjoy!!

First Race

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Racing vs. Running

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As my first 5K draws nearer I keep getting the question, "Are you excited for your first race?" I am, but I guess in my mind, I haven't really been thinking of it as a race, I keep thinking of it as a 3 mile run that I'm going for on Saturday morning. Maybe as I continue to improve my speed and such, I'll get into more of a race mentality, or maybe it'll even happen when I get there and the spirit of the morning catches me? I'll just have to wait and see, but until then I'm content thinking about it as a nice way to get my Saturday started. :)

Friday, June 5, 2009

A trial run

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Last night I arrived at my trainer's house ready for our usual "pre-workout" jog/walk. We set out at a nice pace, chatting about what's been happening in our lives lately. We hit the point where we usually make a turn right to round out the mile loop back to her house, and she says, "We're headed left tonight." Something was amiss. About 30 seconds later she told me we were going to run a nice little 5K before training. Oh Wow. Surprisingly it flew by pretty quickly, I was able to keep chatting for the early part of it, and could give one sentence responses and ask questions until closer to the end. That last little bit though, I started to get pretty tired but it was SO worth it. My time, 30 minutes and 15 seconds. It's amazing what the body can accomplish considering I've only been really running outdoors for 7 weeks now. I'm hoping to come in at 30 minutes or below next Saturday and will be excited to have my first official 5K in the books.