Wow. I haven't actually posted in a really long time. Life is busy, but pretty decent. Not to be terribly obvious, but life changes a lot when there's suddenly a very small person who is wholly dependent upon you. And of course, because I never do things the easy way, I've decided to make myself even more busy by taking up a few hobbies; one old, one new. I've gone back to singing in a choir (that's the old) and, the point of this particular post, I've taken up running.
I really love to run. I loved it when I was a kid. I wasn't really much for actual athletic effort, though, until I started fencing at the end of high school. For a long time, that was enough to keep me in decent shape, but as I got older, I needed more exercise to feel my best. Off and on I would go out and trot around, but stuff hurt, and I just didn't commit myself. Fast forward to a few years ago, when I started having a lot of trouble with my hip. It took me a couple of orthopedists to figure out that I had arthritis caused by dysplasia. But I also took away something important from the last guy I saw. We were talking about running, and the common excuse from a lot of people about how it's bad for your knees. He said "You know, it's not the running that's bad, actually. It's when you run for a long time, and then stop, and then start again." Essentially, he made me realize that stuff hurts in the beginning, but it ought to stop hurting as you go on, since it's all getting stronger.
Fast forward again, though, to early this summer. I have had a baby, and I am struggling, a bit, to lose the weight. I've never actively tried to "lose weight" before ... I always just exercised and felt good with where I was. Feeling at the end of my rope, and having had a great conversation w/some friends who are runners while on vacation, I made a decision: it was time to "become a runner."
I came home from vacation at the beginning of June, and decided that my plan, to start out with, was that I would run 2 miles three times a week. In July I would up it to 2.5, in August 3.0, and so on, and just see where it took me. I decided if it went well, I would look for a 5k (3.2ish miles) in September.
It's now October. I get up at 5 am at least three days a week (and I'm gunning for 4) and run 2.25 miles, which is a convenient loop near my house that includes one painful and one slightly painful hill. On Saturdays, I'm now trying to go for a "long run," which for this month is the originally planned 4 miles. Basically, there's not enough time in my regular day for anything much past 3 miles.
I'm having a great time. Getting up really early kind of sucks, but there's the awesome feeling of having already exercised when you "officially" start your day. Plus when I get home at night I'm not trying to juggle spending time w/baby AND getting dinner AND cleaning up afterward AND THEN trying to decide if there's still enough time to go out for a run. Oddly enough (not really), I feel more tired and low-energy on days when I don't run. I'm actually a few pounds below pre-baby weight now, looking for a few more. And yes, I did run my first 5K at the end of September.
I ran the "Hoof it for Haiti" event in Rocky Hill, CT. I looked for a cause that would be more personal, but this particular event was about 15 minutes away from home, so that was the deciding factor. Despite the threat of rain, my husband and daughter came with and cheered me on. My goal, officially, was just to run it and finish. Unofficially, though, I had this arbitrary notion of finishing it in under 30 minutes. I hadn't done any sort of speed training, or any "training" at all besides just going out and running, but I just thought 30 minutes sounded like a pretty good time. My only strategy was to run at my own pace for the first mile or half-mile, and then pick and choose people to see if I could pass them.
People seemed very cliqueish at the starting line, but since I was nervous, I didn't really mind much. As is universally advised, I moved to the back of the pack. I saw a tall guy who might as well have been wearing a sign that said "SERIOUS RUNNER" staying loose way behind everyone else before the start, and I thought "Ok, Red Shirt Guy's going to win." He just had that look. I tried to stay calm and relaxed, and to remind myself that I had been running 3.5 miles for the previous month, so this would be no problem.
And we're off. The first bit was a small downhill, and I made a crack to the lady next to me that it was designed that way to make us feel better. After that, I got into my usual pace and tried to treat it like just another Saturday run. The first half was through a residential area, and it was fun to see people coming out of their houses to watch all the crazy runners go by. I was pleased to note that at the first uphill stretch, I didn't really have to slow down much, and that even with my moderate, comfortable pace I was passing plenty of people, including a few that I thought looked like more serious contenders.
I think I may have sped up a little bit when I passed the first mile marker, but I tried to calm that down a bit. We passed back across the starting line and I waved at my fans and had some lady offer me encouragement by telling me I had a good pace. On we go. I passed fewer people the further on I went and was sort of bummed when I saw people walking who would then start running again a few minutes later. It seemed sort of like cheating to me. A little less than halfway through I started focusing on a woman a ways in front of me, who seemed to be moving at a decent speed. Passing her became my goal, but she stayed well ahead of me until about 2.5 miles. After I passed her I felt like it was time to go for a more full-on run, even though I was definitely starting to feel it. Managed to successfully snag some water from a Boy Scout on my way past; that felt like an accomplishment. As I moved back up a small rise and started to pass a few more people, it got exciting. I was sucking wind but I was almost through! I came around a curve and could see the finish line and my husband cheering, and then I saw the big digital clock at the finish. It said 29:32, or something close to that. I WAS GOING TO DO IT. I've long been a believer in the idea of "always saving something for the end," and this was the perfect time to find that reserve and go for it.
When I passed the clock, it said 29:42, although the official results would add 10 seconds to that for whatever reason. Either way, it was under 30 minutes, so that's a win in my book. I grabbed the proffered bottle of water at the finish and walked for a bit before turning back to catch up with the family. I felt AWESOME, if rather tired. Walked around some (we were trying to get the young lady to go to sleep in her stroller), wandered over and got some food, kind of wasn't sure what to do. I learned from my husband that Red Shirt Guy came in second. He finished about 20 seconds behind some teenager who'd been in the lead the whole way. Didn't look too bummed about it, though. Hung out for a while before wandering over to check the official times, and learned that I'd finished in the top half. Also a good feeling when all I'd really intended to do was get out there and do the thing.
Overall, it was fun. I was a little disappointed that I felt as tired as I did, but I chalk that up to probably keeping a bit of a faster pace than I usually do, and speeding up a fair amount toward the end. I felt a little bit of a let-down at having completed the goal, and of just no longer being able to say "Hey, I'm going to run my first ever 5K next weekend," but later in the day I started thinking about the next one, so I guess that means I'm hooked, huh?
Right now I'm trying to up the pace a little bit to see if I can finish the next one stronger. Planning on one in Middletown at the end of this month, and am tentatively thinking I'll do a Turkey Trot when we're down South for Thanksgiving. Bigger races and distances are a thought for the future (Hartford Half-Marathon in a year?), but for now I'm enjoying myself and not really looking to push things that much. I feel strong and healthy and like I'm accomplishing something, and that's a pretty awesome feeling. I'll let you know how 5K Number Two goes. I've got a PR to beat, now.
