Tag: race recap

The race that I should have never run. Race for Our Kids- October 6, 2019 10K

Remember that Half Marathon I’m planning to run in February of 2020. Well, you can submit a proof of time for your corral assignment. No proof of time and you are automatically in the last corral. I was so happy with my Charles Street 12 time and certain that it would qualify for a proof of time submission….wrong!! Granted it’s an odd distance twelve miles, but come on. You can submit a 10K or half marathon time but not an odd twelve mile time. I have a half scheduled for October 19, 2019 but I don’t want to leave everything up to that race.

Leading up to the October 6, 2019- 10K I was sick all week. Like, I should have gone to the doctor I probably could have used an antibiotic kind of sick. Instead I was popping Advil Cold and Sinus and hoping for the best. When Saturday morning rolled around I HAD NO BUSINESS BEING OUT OF BED, FORGET ABOUT RUNNING A 10K!! But I’m guessing you can imagine where this is headed. I needed that proof of time submission and therefore come hell or high water I was running this race. Off we went as a family to the Maryland Zoo, where the race would start and finish. The bonus to this race was that the boys and my husband were going to get to do a family 1 mile run/walk around the zoo while I ran. After the race we could then go and explore the zoo. We had our usually conversation in the car. “So, Mommy are you going to win this one?” “No, sweetie. Mommy isn’t going to win, she’s just going to try her best.” In my head, I’m just going to try not to kill myself out there today so we can go see the penguins and the new giraffe exhibit.

While there were lots of race participants for the 5K and the Family walk/run the field for the 10K was sparse. The course was hilly and through a challenging section of Baltimore City. While I tried to pick a runner or two to stay with after the first two mile or so I found myself running basically alone. There was the front pack (not me) me and then everyone else behind me. I felt lousy the ENTIRE RACE. At the 5K mark I started truly questioning my sanity. The last mile or so of the race the 10K runners began to meet up with those running the 5K. I also spotted a woman that I knew had started the 10K with me. Now I began to access how old I thought she might be. After all, while I wasn’t going to win the race, I could still try to win my age category, couldn’t I?? I ran hard the last mile. Ran past the woman in the purple leggings for a time of 53:50. PS she wasn’t in my age category she was in the one below me but she still gave me the push I needed to finish strong a race that I should have never run!

So how did my time shake out with my expectations. My healthy expectations would have been to finish in 54:30/55:00. Based upon how I was feeling I would have been happy to finish in less than an hour. Given the fact that I felt truly miserable I was super pleased with my time. How’d I place overall?? I was first in age category. Woohoo! So I did kind of win, right? Overall I was 20th out of 65 runner. For a race I wasn’t going to run and shouldn’t have run seems like it all worked out well!

What did I learn?

  • I should have skipped the hat. I was afraid it was going to rain. It didn’t and the hat made me hot.
  • I really can run faster than I though.

June 2, 2019- KSDS 5K

In the early morning hours of June 2nd we rode as a family to what would be my first official race after I rediscovered running in February of 2019. A race to benefit a local school. While, not a huge race it was still the first time I was going to compete. Real talk: I’m very competitive and was not quite sure what I was capable of doing beyond a training run.

As my husband drove, our three year old and five year old were in the back seat. They peppered me with questions. How far was I going to run? Could they run too? Wasn’t it too hot to run? How long would it take me to finish? And on and on. Then the question of all questions from our oldest, “You’re going to win the race, right Mommy?” I admired his confidence in my abilities. At 37 years old, having not run for nearly twenty years and having just started running again three months before, winning was the farthest thing from my mind and certainly not on my radar. My goal was to finish in 30 minutes. Based upon my training runs that seemed like a reasonable outcome. My response, “Well, Mommy is going to try her very best but she’s definitely not going to win.” My son struggled with this response, how could I do my best and my best not be good enough to win?

We arrived at the school and instantly the wave or pre-race nervousness came upon me. Anyone else familiar with feeling like you need to go to the bathroom one hundred times before a race starts even though you just went and certainly do not have to go again??

It was hot that morning and I was really concerned with overheating. Even though I had no expectations, let’s be real I had expectations for my finish. The horn sounded and we were off. There was one female runner ahead of me and I stayed with her as long as possible. Rather than drink at the water stations I was pouring water on myself to try to cool off. I ran harder than I had imagined. While, I lost sight of the first female I continued to push through the run, surprising not only myself but others who didn’t know I could “run like that.” As I came around the corner to the finish, my boys were waiting and beyond excited. They started running along side me as I came across the finish line. Time: 26:57. Much better than my goal of 30 minutes. It was good for a second overall female finish and to win my age category. My son’s response “see Mommy, I told you you were going to win.”

What did I learn?

  • This was the first of what would become many races. I had the running bug. I loved the feeling of having a great race and knew I wanted to do it again.
  • Shortly after the race I proudly posted my race results. I’m a runner, it’s what we do, we share our results. If we don’t share our results, did the run or race happen??? A family friend who is a physician pointed out my average heart rate was high. I knew I had worked hard and it was hot that morning but I hadn’t paid much attention to my heart rate. After that comment I pay careful attention during everyone run.