Saturday, September 17, 2011
First run since broken toe
I finally got the ok from the Dr. to go ahead and resume normal activity after my tumble down the stairs in which I broke my big toe 6 weeks ago. Although I have to go ahead to start running again it was advised that I take it slow because the toe is not 100% healed yet. In fact they can still see the fracture on the ex ray. The Dr. said another 3 weeks or so I should be back to normal. This news came almost a week ago and due to the children going back to school, PTO meetings, curriculum nights, baseball etc I have not had an opportunity to really get out there and see what I am made of. Cooper last night spent a night at a friends house and I had to pick him up this morning. His friends house is only 1.35 miles away so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to see how much of a set back I endured taking 6 weeks off. We dropped our car at their house last night so that way I could run to pick him up this morning and drive him home. (although if had not had tickets to the big house today I would have made him run or at least walk home with me.) I walked the first quarter of a mile to warm up but then got going. I knew it was going to be hard but wowza it was really hard. I actually for a split second thought "Kelly you do not need to do this you do not need to be a runner" I do not know what happen to that split second thought but I did not entertain it and just kept running. I had to take three walk breaks which is two more then I normally would have taken two months ago. I apparently have my work cut out for me but I am excited to get back into it.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Toe woes
Went to the Dr. Friday night after I fell down the stairs and sure enough my toe is broken. When I think about a toe being broken I think get some tape, wrap it to another toe, take some Motrin and move on with your life. Apparently when you break your big toe that is not the case. I am not aloud to put any weight on the toe, I have to wear a splint that goes all the way to the calf, take pain killers and anti inflammatory, walk using crutches and take a trip to a specialist who may decide to actually cast me. Who would have thought one broken toe could be such a hassle. I asked the Dr. how long it would take before I could get out and hit the pavement again and I was told that was going to be up to the specialist. hhhmmm
You know last week on Wed. I went in to the Dr. for a physical at which time the Dr. gave me a prescription for PT on my arm/shoulder. So with a bum shoulder and a bum leg how in the world am I supposed to get any exercise in? I know push ups to not hurt my arm and it would not hurt my toe if I did the modified ones and of course sit ups/crunches would not hurt the arm or toe... but what else can I do? I wonder if I could ride a bike? Between my arm, toe, and the fact that this week I had pink eye.... I have more issues then National Geographic :(
You know last week on Wed. I went in to the Dr. for a physical at which time the Dr. gave me a prescription for PT on my arm/shoulder. So with a bum shoulder and a bum leg how in the world am I supposed to get any exercise in? I know push ups to not hurt my arm and it would not hurt my toe if I did the modified ones and of course sit ups/crunches would not hurt the arm or toe... but what else can I do? I wonder if I could ride a bike? Between my arm, toe, and the fact that this week I had pink eye.... I have more issues then National Geographic :(
Friday, July 29, 2011
Warrior Dash
This is the week the week I have been waiting for, for the last 5 months. MI Warrior Dash week is finally here! The excitement is supposed to be brewing and plans for what crazy outfit to wear is supposed to be in place. Only this is not the case for me. This long anticipated race has brought me nothing but doubt and disappointment this week.
A month or so ago my son Cooper asked us if he could apply for a scholarship to go to church camp. I said yes, he did his project, won the scholarship and then we find out that the first day of camp is the same day as the Warrior Dash. Struggling to figure out how on earth we could do both I got lucky when a friend offered to go to the race and watch Cooper there so that way we could just leave from the race to go to camp. Excitement grew as I think to myself that I have this all figured out. Sure Ryan and I would be dropping Coop off looking like mud monkeys but as long as Coop was ok with it then we were too.
I spent the last few months with some nasty shoulder/arm pain. The Dr. said it was a bicep tendon issue, gave me some anti inflammatory and sent me on my way. I laid off of any weight lifting for well over a month and the arm started to feel much better. Feeling positive I started using the arm more and more but I started getting pain back. This past 4th of July is when I think I finally realized something a whole lot more serious was going on. The family was getting ready to go up north on vacation for the holiday and so I decided to wash the floor and the windows. Less then 24 hrs later my arm was in a lot of pain again. This pain was so intense that it lasted days even with Motrin. It was so bad that I had trouble sleeping. As soon as I got home I called the Dr. and made another apt. That apt was this past Wed. Concerned about the shoulder the Dr gave me a prescription for PT and told me there was no way that I should be doing the Warrior Dash on Sunday. Feeling torn I called my physical therapist and asked her what she thought and she made it very clear that it would not be in my best interest to participate in the race. Still torn I asked my running moms group... same response. Do not do it! Stay home, go to PT, get better and then do it next yr.
Sounds like a no brainer right? Not so much. For some reason I am having a very hard time backing out of this race. The thought of just not showing up to a race... "sigh" makes me feel like a failure. Plus I have been dying to get down and dirty for so many months now. Of course there is the 90 bucks I spent for both Ryan and I to register that I would have to eat too and come on I worked it all out so that we could get Coop to camp on time.
Since Wed. I have gone back and forth with my decision to go or to just stay home and hang out with my little buddy before he heads to camp. My mind kept changing from one min. to the next. I even had some trouble sleeping because I could not stop thinking about it. Totally stupid I know. The last 24 hrs I was leaning toward not going but still wanted to hold out on saying it out loud... just in case I changed my mind again. Then this morning as I was about to walk down the stairs my right big toe some how got caught on my pant leg sending me tumbling down the stairs. It has been a couple of hrs since my fall and I think my big toe is broken. I can not put any pressure on it, not even to walk. I am taking this as a sign that going to the Warrior Dash is not supposed to happen for me this yr. So hear I am saying it out loud, I am sadly backing out of the Warrior Dash this yr. I am disappointed sure but a little relieved that Sunday morning when my son wakes up I will have every second, until we leave him at camp, to spend with him.
As far as my stupid toe goes... tonight Ryan and I are supposed to have date night to celebrate 13 yrs of being married... nothing says romance better then the ER!
A month or so ago my son Cooper asked us if he could apply for a scholarship to go to church camp. I said yes, he did his project, won the scholarship and then we find out that the first day of camp is the same day as the Warrior Dash. Struggling to figure out how on earth we could do both I got lucky when a friend offered to go to the race and watch Cooper there so that way we could just leave from the race to go to camp. Excitement grew as I think to myself that I have this all figured out. Sure Ryan and I would be dropping Coop off looking like mud monkeys but as long as Coop was ok with it then we were too.
I spent the last few months with some nasty shoulder/arm pain. The Dr. said it was a bicep tendon issue, gave me some anti inflammatory and sent me on my way. I laid off of any weight lifting for well over a month and the arm started to feel much better. Feeling positive I started using the arm more and more but I started getting pain back. This past 4th of July is when I think I finally realized something a whole lot more serious was going on. The family was getting ready to go up north on vacation for the holiday and so I decided to wash the floor and the windows. Less then 24 hrs later my arm was in a lot of pain again. This pain was so intense that it lasted days even with Motrin. It was so bad that I had trouble sleeping. As soon as I got home I called the Dr. and made another apt. That apt was this past Wed. Concerned about the shoulder the Dr gave me a prescription for PT and told me there was no way that I should be doing the Warrior Dash on Sunday. Feeling torn I called my physical therapist and asked her what she thought and she made it very clear that it would not be in my best interest to participate in the race. Still torn I asked my running moms group... same response. Do not do it! Stay home, go to PT, get better and then do it next yr.
Sounds like a no brainer right? Not so much. For some reason I am having a very hard time backing out of this race. The thought of just not showing up to a race... "sigh" makes me feel like a failure. Plus I have been dying to get down and dirty for so many months now. Of course there is the 90 bucks I spent for both Ryan and I to register that I would have to eat too and come on I worked it all out so that we could get Coop to camp on time.
Since Wed. I have gone back and forth with my decision to go or to just stay home and hang out with my little buddy before he heads to camp. My mind kept changing from one min. to the next. I even had some trouble sleeping because I could not stop thinking about it. Totally stupid I know. The last 24 hrs I was leaning toward not going but still wanted to hold out on saying it out loud... just in case I changed my mind again. Then this morning as I was about to walk down the stairs my right big toe some how got caught on my pant leg sending me tumbling down the stairs. It has been a couple of hrs since my fall and I think my big toe is broken. I can not put any pressure on it, not even to walk. I am taking this as a sign that going to the Warrior Dash is not supposed to happen for me this yr. So hear I am saying it out loud, I am sadly backing out of the Warrior Dash this yr. I am disappointed sure but a little relieved that Sunday morning when my son wakes up I will have every second, until we leave him at camp, to spend with him.
As far as my stupid toe goes... tonight Ryan and I are supposed to have date night to celebrate 13 yrs of being married... nothing says romance better then the ER!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
I'M BAAACK
Wow it has been such a long time since I have gotten a chance to post anything. I never even got to tell you about national running day that happen over a month ago, (it was awesome by the way) or the fact that I have now been running for over a yr which happen just a few weeks ago. So much to write and post about and yet I just could not make it happen. Where have I been you ask?
It all started about two months ago when I got a dreaded message on my computer that the hard drive was about to have imminent failure and that we needed to back up the computer. So back up the computer we did. Not that there was much to back up since the computer was less then 6 months old. We got this hard drive message a few times before the computer just shut its self down and stopped working. The whole process of getting the darn thing fixed took a lot longer then I had wanted or anticipated but here I am about a month later finally blogging. The computer was not the only issue in our house we had a series of unfortunate mishaps going on as well. Things that might have been funny to blog about but at the time, just pissed me off. Like the ceiling leaking, the light fixture coming crashing down in the family room, the air conditioning not working (even though it is not even a yr old) and the guy coming to fix it over and over and over again. (boy I hope it is fixed for good now... it is HOT out there) Then we got hit by the dreaded strep throat, the damn thing took over my house hitting everyone in its path except for Owen my 6 yr old. Fortunately for most of the family a couple days on antibiotics did the trick, but not me, the antibiotics did not work for me and unfortunately I did not realize they were not working until I had waisted 48 hrs on them before getting a new prescription. Days with temps 103. and higher left me doing little of nothing and the last thing on my mind was running, exercising or blogging. Don't get me wrong though there was a vacation up north somewhere in the middle of all this madness and that was fun.
With everything going on I took about 3 weeks off of running. The results of that... not good! I got out the other night with my boys and we did make it 1.8 miles but it was tough, a lot harder then I felt it should have been. My plan is to ease back into it, tonight my goal is anything over 2 miles (which might be tricky in this heat) we will see how it goes but in the mean time... I'M BAAACK!
It all started about two months ago when I got a dreaded message on my computer that the hard drive was about to have imminent failure and that we needed to back up the computer. So back up the computer we did. Not that there was much to back up since the computer was less then 6 months old. We got this hard drive message a few times before the computer just shut its self down and stopped working. The whole process of getting the darn thing fixed took a lot longer then I had wanted or anticipated but here I am about a month later finally blogging. The computer was not the only issue in our house we had a series of unfortunate mishaps going on as well. Things that might have been funny to blog about but at the time, just pissed me off. Like the ceiling leaking, the light fixture coming crashing down in the family room, the air conditioning not working (even though it is not even a yr old) and the guy coming to fix it over and over and over again. (boy I hope it is fixed for good now... it is HOT out there) Then we got hit by the dreaded strep throat, the damn thing took over my house hitting everyone in its path except for Owen my 6 yr old. Fortunately for most of the family a couple days on antibiotics did the trick, but not me, the antibiotics did not work for me and unfortunately I did not realize they were not working until I had waisted 48 hrs on them before getting a new prescription. Days with temps 103. and higher left me doing little of nothing and the last thing on my mind was running, exercising or blogging. Don't get me wrong though there was a vacation up north somewhere in the middle of all this madness and that was fun.
With everything going on I took about 3 weeks off of running. The results of that... not good! I got out the other night with my boys and we did make it 1.8 miles but it was tough, a lot harder then I felt it should have been. My plan is to ease back into it, tonight my goal is anything over 2 miles (which might be tricky in this heat) we will see how it goes but in the mean time... I'M BAAACK!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Military Appreciation 5k
I'm baa-ack!! Vacation with my family has kept me from my computer but I have been chomping at the bit to give the rundown on this 5k.
First of all the reasons I wanted to do this 5k.
1. It was a Military Appreciation race. How could I not want to do a race that supports the US Military?
2. The location of the race was in Myrtle Beach SC. How cool is that?
3. Some of my fellow cyber running mamas whom I had never met but "knew" via Facebook, Dailymile and Cafemom were running in it.
I arrived with my family in SC the day before the race. I was extremely nervous about not being able to find the location of the race so that eve. Ryan, my father in law and myself set out to find the location of packet pickup. It took us a very long time to find it so I was happy we went looking the night before. Race morning Ryan drove me and although we found the place the night before we still got a little turned around but managed to get there in plenty of time. The minute I stepped out of the car I knew I was in trouble. It was already 80 degrees and very humid. If I had been in MI I would have been able to see my breath. Quite a big difference and I knew my body would have a hard time adjusting. Fortunately I had already had it set in my mind that I was just going to run in the race but I was not going to race the race. I know my body and I know if I went out guns blazing to try and get a PR I would end up with some nasty shin splints. (happens every race) I was not going to let shin splints ruin my family vacation so the plan was to just go nice and easy and enjoy the race. The heat made it easy to stick to the plan.
Just after I picked up my race packet I saw Heather (aka Run Faster Mommy http://www.runfastermommy.com/) in the parking lot. I was most excited to finally meet Heather because she has been such a great source of inspiration to me. (a topic I will elaborate on in a post later on this month but for now back to the 5k) Heather was not the only girl I was getting to meet at this race though. Two other girls from our running moms group were going to be there Elizabeth (who by the way does not live in SC. She, like me, was just on vacation with her family. How cool is that?) and Hope (aka team Epton http://www.teamepton.com) I had just said to Heather I am not sure that I am going to recognize the other girls when Elizabeth walked by and believe it or not I recognized her right away. Right after that Hope showed up. Meeting these girls was by far my most fav. moment of the race.
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| Hope, Heather and myself |
As the crowd of runners gathered by the starting line we all chatted until it was time to take our places in the pack. Since I am slow I just moved straight to the back of the pack while the other girls (who are fast by the way) stayed up near the front. The gun went off and away we went. I normally race with music. This race I had none ~by none I mean my mp3 player is lost somewhere in SC. Someone, somewhere, right now is enjoying my booty music. "sigh" I realized during this race that the reason why I like listening to music so much while running is because it drownds out the sound of me breathing. OMG am I one of "those" runners? You know what I am talking about, the ones you can hear from a mile away who's breathing makes you grab for your phone to dial 911 because you are sure they are about to die... yeah that might be me... but right now I am just going to blame it on the fact that the humidity was making it difficult to breath. Not having my headphones on felt strange but gave me an opportunity to better take in my surroundings and even chat with some other people in the race. Before I knew it I completely forgot that I did not have them on. I met a nice girl named Amy who also knew Heather and Hope and we ran together and chatted for a little while. About mile two I was really starting to feel the heat and found myself taking and extra walk break at which time I ended up talking to another woman who was so incredibly nice. We commented on how the course had NO shade and how it would have been nice if mother nature could have sent us a breeze or two our way. She was great fun to talk with but before I knew it my 30 second walk break I was anticipating turned into a few min. I tried to get her to run with me but she said she was done with the running and just wanted to walk now. She wished me good luck and away I went... again. At this point in time I knew we were getting close to the finish line and it was not long before I could see the gathering of people and hear the crowd (an upside to not having the mp3 player) Then I heard my name and realized that my fellow running mamas were cheering me on. hhhmmm wait, I might have to retract my earlier statement because this might have been my favorite part of the race. It was an amazing feeling to cross the finish line being cheered on by the very girls who had been so instrumental in me actually getting to the point of being able to run a 5k. Once I was just about to cross the finish line I saw my husband who actually had the camera in hand and was taking a picture. This is a huge milestone people, the guy NEVER takes pictures. It was a good feeling having Ryan there, this was the first race of mine that he had been too and it meant a lot to me that he was there. Hope handed me a water and Heather pointed me into the direction of my medal. YAY a medal just for finishing I was so excited (no it does not take much)
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| me crossing the finish line |
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| Me, Hope and Heather just after I Just after I crossed the finish line (still out of breath at this point haha) |
We of course waited around for the results and I was excited to see how my fellow mamas did. I knew that they all were getting medals for placing in their age groups so that was exciting. Heather 1st in her age group, Elizabeth 1st in her age group, Hope 2nd in her age group. I was loving cheering for these amazing women and I was still cheering for Hope (we are in the same age group) when I heard them call my name. 3rd place? What? Are you kidding me? I was beyond shocked, never in a million yrs would I ever guess that I would ever get a medal placed around my neck. Sure sure there was only 4 gals in my age group but I do not care because I have a bronze medal hanging up right now. ahahahha My time was 37:18 so not my best by far but enough to secure 3rd place.
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| What?!?! OMG he just called my name! WoooHooo!! |
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| Heather, Hope, Elizabeth and me after getting our medals. |
All in all this was by far was my most favorite race I have done to date. There is no doubt that yrs from now I am going to look back at this race with such fond memories. I am sure I will forget how hot it was, my time, or that I lost the mp3 player. What I will remember will be meeting some amazing girls, the feeling of seeing my husband at the finish line with the camera in his hand, hearing my friends cheering me on, and the announcer saying MY name. It was an amazing race for an amazing cause and I am so very happy to have gotten a chance to participate in it.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Happy Mothers Day!
Yesterday was mothers day and my initial plan was to wake up before church and go for a run. That thought ended almost as soon as it had started when I received a phone call from a friend at church. Tandy and myself are the Sunday School teachers and she had called to inform me that she was not going to be at church in the morning and that she had all the supplies for the Mothers Day craft but there was some cutting out do be done along with searching for a bible verse. That's when I knew I had to get to church early and unless I woke up at the butt crack of dawn, which should NEVER happen on mothers day, I was going to have to forgo the morning run.
After church I came home cleaned the bathroom, kitchen and rewashed the kitchen floor. I was annoyed because I had already washed the kitchen and bathroom less then 48 hrs prior. Ryan decided for Mothers Day he should take the kids to the park and leave me home alone to do whatever. So I sat on the couch and found a movie on tv. There was only an hr left in the movie so once it was done I knew I had plenty of time to do something else before they got home. So I chose to run. I got all ready and then called my husband and told him to not leave the park because I was going to run up there and I would need a ride home.
Running to the park is a route I had never run before and was excited to try it out. I had no interest in going out to be fast or anything of that nature. I just wanted a nice relaxing run. The first part is pavement. The second part of the run is dirt rode. I generally like running on dirt but I found it to be kinda challenging this time. The road had just been graded and it was not only very bumpy it was duuuusty! Whenever a car would pass I would get lost in a huge cloud of dust. It was crazy! The third part of the run was through a grassy field. I hate hate hate running on terrain like this because there are a lot of hidden bumps, holes, and even muddy spots. Fortunately that part did not last long and I walked part of it. There was a family in the field out flying kites too so it was fun to be able to watch them as I made my way through this. Then lastly I was back onto a dirt road until I came to a ball field that had all my men on it! It was awesome!
I have to say that run and then hanging out with my boys at the park was great... just what this mama needed for Mothers Day!
After church I came home cleaned the bathroom, kitchen and rewashed the kitchen floor. I was annoyed because I had already washed the kitchen and bathroom less then 48 hrs prior. Ryan decided for Mothers Day he should take the kids to the park and leave me home alone to do whatever. So I sat on the couch and found a movie on tv. There was only an hr left in the movie so once it was done I knew I had plenty of time to do something else before they got home. So I chose to run. I got all ready and then called my husband and told him to not leave the park because I was going to run up there and I would need a ride home.
Running to the park is a route I had never run before and was excited to try it out. I had no interest in going out to be fast or anything of that nature. I just wanted a nice relaxing run. The first part is pavement. The second part of the run is dirt rode. I generally like running on dirt but I found it to be kinda challenging this time. The road had just been graded and it was not only very bumpy it was duuuusty! Whenever a car would pass I would get lost in a huge cloud of dust. It was crazy! The third part of the run was through a grassy field. I hate hate hate running on terrain like this because there are a lot of hidden bumps, holes, and even muddy spots. Fortunately that part did not last long and I walked part of it. There was a family in the field out flying kites too so it was fun to be able to watch them as I made my way through this. Then lastly I was back onto a dirt road until I came to a ball field that had all my men on it! It was awesome!
I have to say that run and then hanging out with my boys at the park was great... just what this mama needed for Mothers Day!
Monday, May 2, 2011
WILDCAT 5K
Wooo woooo here comes the full report of my first 5k of the season. As I posted in my last blog post I spent the night before getting prepped for the event. Clothing laid out, mp3 player charged, children's clothing laid out, and I even purchased breakfast for the children so I would not have to scramble to cook something in the morning. (doughnuts, which made me the coolest mom ever) I had accounted for everything and was all set to go...
I arrived there with my friend Stacey and quickly went to pick up our race packets. Once that was done we had about 30 min to pin on our bibs, warm up, hit the rest rooms and of course get a pre race pic. of ourselves taken.
I found out about the race through my physical therapist. She too ran it along with a whole slew of other staff members from my physical therapy place. I was also approached by a woman named Laura who recognized me from a mutual friend. I was already super nervous and knowing so many people there made the nervousness 10 times worse. Kinda reminded me of how much I like to sing and how I have no problem singing in front of strangers but if you ask me to sign in front of people I know... I get all freaked out. Standing at the starting line I felt like I was standing in front of family and friends with a microphone in my hand.
The guy who was in charge of starting the race had no gun so he yelled POW and we were off. I started off in the middle of the pack but it did not take long before I was in the back of the pack. I have been following the Jeff Galloway run/walk program so I kept close eye on my watch and planned on walking 1 min. for every 6 min of running. The first walk break came and I was actually in need of it. I was kinda out of breath at this point already which told me I was running faster then I should have been. When I started back up again I tried to slow down a bit but seeing the gap between myself and the people in front of me grow larger and larger made me question my pace and I started to run faster. There was supposed to be someone at what I thought was the 1mile and 2 mile mark telling you what your pace was. I got to the first person and they shouted out 7minuets (I do not remember what the seconds count was). I knew there was no possible way that I could be running at that pace. I have only run a mile in under 8 min once and that was because I was acting overly competitive. I ran it on the treadmill and I had to hold on to the bars for dear life, if I had accidentally let go I would have gone flying off. hahah Trust me when I say there was no possible way for me to do that again without the aid of the treadmill. So once I hear the 7 min call my mind starts to wonder a bit... what? Where am I, was that not the one mile mark? Wait my watch says it has been 10 min. but still I do not run 10 min miles either. Crap how far have I run? Having never run the course before I just had to try to clear my mind and not worry about how far I had run or how far I had to go. I did find comfort though in the fact that although she was quite a distance ahead of me I could still see Stacey and she seemed to be doing well!
The first part of the course took us through a neighborhood and that was kinda fun because there were several people standing outside in their drive ways to watch us. The second part was down a sidewalk which was right between the main rd and a lake. I focused on looking straight ahead but I made sure to take in some of the view of the lake too. I finally came to the second person who was shouting out times and was told I was at 21something. At this point in time I am feeling confident that, that was in fact the 2 mile mark. Which meant that I was trucking! Only at this point in time I could not think about that. I had to focus now on how much I was walking because unfortunately at this point in time I was needing to walk every 4 to 5 min instead of 6. There was a couple that had been running near me the whole race and we were kinda laughing at each other because I would run while they were walking and pass them then when I would walk they would run past me. We leap frogged the whole race.
The last stretch of the race was the drive way to the middle school and onto the middle school's brand new track. Right when I saw that track I knew this was it I was in the home stretch. Only one lap around the track and boom the race would be over. My adrenaline started pumping and I started to push it into gear. I got onto that track and I instantly could smell the rubber or whatever it is made out of. It reminded me of getting a new car and how much you enjoy that new car smell, not so much because of how good the smell is but because of what it represents... the shinny, clean, new car! I enjoyed the smell of the track not because I like to sniff rubber but because it meant I had done it and was just about to cross the finish line. I got half way around that track when the sent was no longer a thought in my mind, all I could think about was I can't breath! I wanted so bad to sprint the whole way around the track but I just was not able to do it. I had to slow down and then eventually walk at which time the couple I had been leap frogging passed me. Feeling a little defeated and upset with myself, a friend from my running moms group on facebook came into my head. Although I have never met Denise nor do I know her that well at all she came into my mind at that moment. I thought about how Denise who started running at 39 years old, she has CLL and was running her first marathon at the same time that I was walking on this track. The words, Denise is running right now, if she can run a marathon I can at least run the rest of this track, popped into my head. (It was not until after I started this blog post that I realized that not only had Denise ran her marathon and completed it she had undergone chemo just 4 days prior to the race... she is amazing and inspirational!) Thinking about Denise was all the motivation I needed I then picked up my feet and ran as fast as I could around the rest of that track. I proudly crossed that finish line in the back of the pack in 88th place with the most amazing time I have ever seen out of myself on a 5k. 32:55 over three and a half min. faster then my previous PR. Even though there were not to many people to cross that finish line behind me I was elated.
I completely out of breath walked up to the equally out of breath couple and gave them a high five and a congrats on a job well done. It was fun having them to go back and forth with the whole race. Then I was off to find Stacey who had crossed the finish line so much farther ahead of me that she already had her breathing regulated and was no longer out of breath. ahahahh She did amazing. While waiting for the results I congratulated some of the staff from Health Quest (my physical therapy place) They all did so well and the majority of them got medals too. This race was amazing and I am already looking forward to doing it again next yr.
I arrived there with my friend Stacey and quickly went to pick up our race packets. Once that was done we had about 30 min to pin on our bibs, warm up, hit the rest rooms and of course get a pre race pic. of ourselves taken.
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| Stacey and myself before the race |
The guy who was in charge of starting the race had no gun so he yelled POW and we were off. I started off in the middle of the pack but it did not take long before I was in the back of the pack. I have been following the Jeff Galloway run/walk program so I kept close eye on my watch and planned on walking 1 min. for every 6 min of running. The first walk break came and I was actually in need of it. I was kinda out of breath at this point already which told me I was running faster then I should have been. When I started back up again I tried to slow down a bit but seeing the gap between myself and the people in front of me grow larger and larger made me question my pace and I started to run faster. There was supposed to be someone at what I thought was the 1mile and 2 mile mark telling you what your pace was. I got to the first person and they shouted out 7minuets (I do not remember what the seconds count was). I knew there was no possible way that I could be running at that pace. I have only run a mile in under 8 min once and that was because I was acting overly competitive. I ran it on the treadmill and I had to hold on to the bars for dear life, if I had accidentally let go I would have gone flying off. hahah Trust me when I say there was no possible way for me to do that again without the aid of the treadmill. So once I hear the 7 min call my mind starts to wonder a bit... what? Where am I, was that not the one mile mark? Wait my watch says it has been 10 min. but still I do not run 10 min miles either. Crap how far have I run? Having never run the course before I just had to try to clear my mind and not worry about how far I had run or how far I had to go. I did find comfort though in the fact that although she was quite a distance ahead of me I could still see Stacey and she seemed to be doing well!
The first part of the course took us through a neighborhood and that was kinda fun because there were several people standing outside in their drive ways to watch us. The second part was down a sidewalk which was right between the main rd and a lake. I focused on looking straight ahead but I made sure to take in some of the view of the lake too. I finally came to the second person who was shouting out times and was told I was at 21something. At this point in time I am feeling confident that, that was in fact the 2 mile mark. Which meant that I was trucking! Only at this point in time I could not think about that. I had to focus now on how much I was walking because unfortunately at this point in time I was needing to walk every 4 to 5 min instead of 6. There was a couple that had been running near me the whole race and we were kinda laughing at each other because I would run while they were walking and pass them then when I would walk they would run past me. We leap frogged the whole race.
The last stretch of the race was the drive way to the middle school and onto the middle school's brand new track. Right when I saw that track I knew this was it I was in the home stretch. Only one lap around the track and boom the race would be over. My adrenaline started pumping and I started to push it into gear. I got onto that track and I instantly could smell the rubber or whatever it is made out of. It reminded me of getting a new car and how much you enjoy that new car smell, not so much because of how good the smell is but because of what it represents... the shinny, clean, new car! I enjoyed the smell of the track not because I like to sniff rubber but because it meant I had done it and was just about to cross the finish line. I got half way around that track when the sent was no longer a thought in my mind, all I could think about was I can't breath! I wanted so bad to sprint the whole way around the track but I just was not able to do it. I had to slow down and then eventually walk at which time the couple I had been leap frogging passed me. Feeling a little defeated and upset with myself, a friend from my running moms group on facebook came into my head. Although I have never met Denise nor do I know her that well at all she came into my mind at that moment. I thought about how Denise who started running at 39 years old, she has CLL and was running her first marathon at the same time that I was walking on this track. The words, Denise is running right now, if she can run a marathon I can at least run the rest of this track, popped into my head. (It was not until after I started this blog post that I realized that not only had Denise ran her marathon and completed it she had undergone chemo just 4 days prior to the race... she is amazing and inspirational!) Thinking about Denise was all the motivation I needed I then picked up my feet and ran as fast as I could around the rest of that track. I proudly crossed that finish line in the back of the pack in 88th place with the most amazing time I have ever seen out of myself on a 5k. 32:55 over three and a half min. faster then my previous PR. Even though there were not to many people to cross that finish line behind me I was elated.
I completely out of breath walked up to the equally out of breath couple and gave them a high five and a congrats on a job well done. It was fun having them to go back and forth with the whole race. Then I was off to find Stacey who had crossed the finish line so much farther ahead of me that she already had her breathing regulated and was no longer out of breath. ahahahh She did amazing. While waiting for the results I congratulated some of the staff from Health Quest (my physical therapy place) They all did so well and the majority of them got medals too. This race was amazing and I am already looking forward to doing it again next yr.
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| Me and Stacey after the Wildcat 5k |
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