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Monday, April 16, 2012

10k: One Step Ahead of Reverse

I was signed up to run my first 10k race for this Saturday. But on Thursday night I was still battling shin pain and having a hard time deciding what to do about the race. Run? Not run? Walk? Sleep in? 

I put it out of my mind all day Friday and figured I would make a last minute decision on Saturday morning. I went to work, came home and went over to some friend's house for dinner and drinks. 

When I got home on Friday night I had a text message from my marathon-runner father that said:

If you decided to run tomorrow - and I think you should - take 4 advil an hour before the race.

Done. Sold. 



That was all I needed to hear - I was going to run AND I was going to finish. 

So Saturday morning The Canadian and I headed down to the river for the 8th Annual Transplant Trot. 

The river is the windiest part of town. It was 36F outside with bright, beautiful blue skies.




Per my dad's advice, I wore winter running tights, my lucky long sleeve moose t-shirt with a gigantic hole in the armpit and a light-weight neon pink running jacket. I was looking H-O-T.




I wasn't too nervous because I had it in my head that I was going to do this. It was that simple. I could feel it in my bones.




The race started out along the river and turned over the bridge to cross the river. After the bridge the course turned and we headed back down along the other side of the water. This gave me a view of the city and in turn let The Canadian see me crawling along in my neon pink jacket - which he could easily spot through the zoom lens on the camera.




I felt really good for the first 4 kilometers. Funny thing about Canada, they actually measure a 10k in kilometers. Miles mean nothing to these people. The down side is there are more distance markers (10 vs 6) but the upside is that they go by so much faster. It makes you feel really speedy.




Thanks to the unethical amount of Advil, I had absolutely no shin or hip pain. I was, however, getting warm and promised myself that I could take off my jacket at the 5k mark. It's amazing how easily I can manipulate myself.




From 6-8k I was getting a little bored and a little nauseous. I run so much better when I'm stressed out and having something to contemplate. Unfortunately for me, I didn't have a care in the world on Saturday so my mind was blank and all I had to think about was how I could easily puke everywhere. I put that thought right out of my head and focused on singing along with Rhianna and taking photos of myself.




At 8k I let myself push up my long sleeves to cool off a bit. That was when I realized that I was actually going to finish in one piece and vomit-free. 

I didn't look at my watch once, and didn't care about time, but I had a feeling I was keeping my usual turtle speed 11 minute pace. One step ahead of reverse, people, one step.




Still feeling good, I rounded the corner and the finish line was in sight. Hallelujah!




I finished in 1:07:54. I'm pretty sure I was in the bottom five. That means I beat 4 people! FOUR!




Then I played the drama queen card and threw myself on the ground. I'm nothing if not classy.




It was the perfect first 'big' race for me - 80 runners, good conditions, easy trail, and a wonderful husband who patiently waited for 67 minutes to see the neon pink reappear along the river. 




Then I went home and hung my number on the refrigerator. Because that's what cool people do.


________________________________

Friday Workout: Rest and Wine

Saturday Workout: See Above

Sunday Workout: Cardio - bike/elliptical 35 minutes, Weights - Biceps, Shoulder, Abs


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