Well we wanted to end the year with a fun holiday run and we chose the Walter's Run 5K to do just that!
Honestly it was a crazy week work and family wise and Sunday morning I was up early and trucking off with peanut to a christmas party. I almost skipped this race because she was having fun at the party and everything. But my sister was kind enough to stay there with her and watch her while I went to race. Which brought a huge amount of mom guilt and I kind of carried it around all day. But that is a post for another day ;)
I decided I would get a lil festive and just have some fun! With my trusty Zensah calf sleeves hidden under my christmas socks I was ready to go!
It was pretty cold out there but I was not cold once we started moving! I lined up towards the front with my friend Lauren and her husband Matty, they came out to race too. Its so much fun being there with friends I must admit I am always happy to have someone to chat with while waiting for the horn to go off!
There was a Santa Claus directing us and once he blew the horn away we went. This race was in West Roxbury, and for anyone that knows that area it was pretty hilly! We got to running and I felt great, until I hit a half mile in and BAM a big hill. I watched my 6:10 on my garmin go to a 7 very quickly ;) I mainted my 6:50s for the first mile and then something else went wrong. My lungs. I had asthma as a kid and you always think you grow out of these things... Well yesterday I felt like I could not breathe. There was a moment when I thought I would have to stop and walk it was so bad. But somehow I kept going.
I guess running distance has taught me something, I can sike myself into finishing a 5K because it is short compared to my longer runs. I kept trying to focus on my breathing and just hurrying to finish so I could relax. At mile 2 when the hills hit again I knew I would not get a shiny new PR and got a little bummed out. When you become competitive with yourself you tend to race every race looking for a new PR. You always want to be doing better than you did last time. But today with everything combined I just could not do it.
I came in and saw 21 something on the clock and was ok. My garmin said 21:56 and the race says 21:59. I am ok with it for now ;) I placed 5th in my age group which is not so bad, though it was a small race ;) My 5K PR is 21:10 so I was not too far off but I would have liked to hit sub 21 I guess that will have wait for 2012!
I was happy to greet all of my friends as they came in. Lauren got a new PR of 23 something!!! She has had a great year good job Lauren!
We got to meet the inspiring Aja who got herself a shiny new PR!!!
Damian and Nicole did great as well!!!! I was proud of Nicole for tackling the tough hills and not panicking ;) Of course the Runkateers were happy to pose for a picture with the New Balance sneaker ;)
All in all we may not have been in a good mood but a fun race can always cheer us up! I have had a great year and been very lucky to make so many wonderful running buddies! I cannot wait to see what 2012 has in store for all of us :)
5 comments:
love the socks! :) and while not every race can be a PR, i understand how you feel about being disappointed. that drive is what keeps you working hard.
I love that picture with the New Balance sneaker. So funny.
Congrats again. You pushed hard when you knew you weren't PR'ing. That is a great thing to have mentally in your pocket. I tend to give up when I miss a PR but you still finished strong, way to go.
And sub-21 in 2012? How about sub-20?! We can do it!
This is just so inspiring. I am totally going to start running again.
It's gonna take a while..
This helps. You ROCK!
The socks are awesome! Great job on the race even if it wasn't a PR!
It took me a long time to realize this, but not every race needs to "better" than the last one or have more effort. I think every race should be a learning experience to utilize for whatever you chose as an "A" race. To run a race at that speed so close to your marathon and during the Holiday Run Streak is awesome, so be proud of that!
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