I have put off writing about this race because I just didn’t know where to start. So let’s start with this picture:
I look happy right? Definitely doesn’t look like I just threw up next to a poor guy who happened to be sitting on the edge of a planter? Yep, I threw up less than a quarter mile from the finish. It was awful.
My wonderful friend AJ offered to pace me for this race (in exchange for some cupcakes for her birthday party – more on that in another post). She is faster than me, but not as super speedy as some people I know. So I was hoping that I’d be able to keep up with her without a problem. We decided to do “5 and 1s” for this race – run for 5 minutes, walk for 1 minute. Okay, no problem. I’ve done that before. And 6.2 miles is nothing right? I’ve done that before too! (and then run another 6.9 miles) It all sounded very doable until that morning. Here were the major issues:
- I hadn’t run a whole lot since the Princess 1/2. I took a week off (like I always do after a 1/2), and then next thing I knew it was 3 weeks later.
- I’d never actually run JUST a 10k race before. I didn’t really think this would be an issue. I’d run 5k races and 1/2 marathons, why would a 10k be any different? Well, it was. My brain is used to, for the most part, running 3.1 mile races. So when I hit the halfway point of this race my body said “Okay, we are done!” followed up with “WTF, why are we still running?!” I swear to you that I heard my body say that.
- So. Many. Bricks! I hate to say it, but the bricks played a big part in this whole thing. I <3 running through Winter Park, but I hate all the brick roads. I am a klutz, plain and simple. So anytime we hit a brick stretch I really had to focus on the road and not tripping.
But all was not lost here. Did I finish in the 1:08 time that we wanted to? Nope. Did I finish in the 1:12 time that we hoped for when we knew 1:08 wasn’t going to happen? Nope. Did I finish in time for a 10k PR (based on my 1/2 results)? Hell yeah! I didn’t meet our first two goals, but I did still end up with a 10k PR. If I hadn’t stopped to puke in that damn flower bed I MAY had been able to swing the 1:12. But I didn’t. Oh well.
Thanks to AJ I was able to finish in a very reasonable time. She pushed me when I needed it, told me to slow down when I was pushing myself too hard, and let me puke in peace. She also reassured me when I was done that I’d done AMAZING! (I mean, I did get up and drive 30 minutes and run 6.2 miles before 8:45 in the morning) AJ is a rockstar 🙂
Next Race: Run for the Trees 5k – April 28, 2012 (maybe!)
