Tuesday, May 6, 2008

So, this is just pathetic. I haven't written anything new since February?! Well, I've got an excuse-- I had a major distraction. Turns out I've got a GoofyBaby on the way. Why do I call him GoofyBaby? Yep, ran the Goofy with me. Who knew? Looking back on it, perhaps that's why I developed such a strong hatred for my water belt in the half...

Anyway, I've done a couple of 5ks since finding out. I was a little worried about the whole heart rate thing. Apparently it's no longer that you have to stay below 140 when pregnant, it's that you have to be able to maintain a "conversation pace" or something like that. That's all fine and good when you have someone to talk to, but when everyone has an iPod in a race, there's not much chance to test your conversational skills.

The Sidney Lanier Bridge Run:

This 5k was sometime in February. The Bridge Run goes up forever, then down, and then back up, and finally, you guessed it, down. I did this race last year with Emma. She was great going up, whiny going down, and unspeakably horrible going back. I was dragging her the whole way back up while she complained about our speed-- "if we're not going to win, why do we have to hurry?" "Oh, I don't know, maybe because our car is on the other side of this bridge and we don't want them to open it to traffic before we get back!?" Yeah, it was ugly for both of us. Needless to say, I left her behind this year.

So this time, I started out reasonably strong going up, but never having trained on big horrible hills, I panicked about my speed. No conversation opportunities around me (unless you count sharing an "ewww" with a girl next to me when we had to jump over a puddle o' puke- someone obviously was going too fast ahead of us!) I walked a bit of the up, then ran pretty fast down. Before the race I worried about tripping over my own feet and rolling down the bridge. Turns out that worry was all for nothing- gravity really wasn't that helpful. And I probably would have been grateful if I could have rolled a bit.

At the turnaround I saw a couple of friends. I was wearing my WISH shirt and felt the need to scream their names and wave like crazy. Then I felt really silly, because it was the quietest group of runners ever. But, it gave me something to do, and reassured me that while I wasn't sure I could maintain a conversation, I could handle a loud scream.

I met up with my friend's husband somewhere around the top of the bridge. We ran down together. They are a little newer to running, and still gungho, so I let him pull ahead of me the last few feet. I didn't want him to have to be beat by a girl, especially since I hadn't told anyone about GoofyBaby... didn't want the thought of being beaten by a preggo girl to push him over the edge! We finished a little over 32 minutes, which I thought was pretty good since it was a frigging bridge! I really did the race for the medal, but it wasn't all that great...

Gray Ribbon Run 5k:

This one was in April in Blackshear. The friends I mentioned in the Bridge Run actually organized the run as a fundraiser for a friend with cancer. At the very last minute I drove over to Blackshear and entered. It was a great race with a ton of people and good support.

I watched the end of the 1 mile run. It was really cool- lots of fast little kids, people warming up for the 5k, and little old grandmothers in jeans pushing kids in strollers. I liked the diversity. Usually everyone is crazy fast in the local races. At my current pace, I could have been DLF easily in a typical local race(Dead Last Finish).

The 5k started a little late because the cops had to get gas! Seriously. It was scheduled for 9 a.m. and already a little warm. We finally started. I really questioned my sanity during the first mile, especially when the runner with the Jack Russell on a leash passed me. I could hear his little toenails clicking along, mocking me (the dog, not the runner). I considered stopping and doing a quick walk of shame back to my car, but alas, I hadn't paid attention to our route and was lost. I did test my conversation pace when I saw the mile 1 marker- I pointed it out to another runner and didn't keel over. So, on we pressed. Mile 2 was long and dull, and involved an out and back. Again, geek that I am, I clapped and cheered for the first few runners headed towards us, but it was a lonely endeavor. Why are all these runners so serious?

At the mile 2 turnaround, I realized someone who kind of annoys me was pretty close behind. I wasn't going to let this person pass me- it became my mission. So, GoofyBaby and I had a discussion. I told him that we had to buckle down for the last mile. I didn't get any objections, so I bumped up the pace a bit. And right there, my friends, is where running the Goofy makes all the difference in the world. I think running Goofy (albeit slowly for the full) gave me a bit more mental toughness than I had before. I mean, if I can run 26.2 miles with my knee hurting, I know I can suck it up and put in a fast last mile. So that's what I did. I started passing people even going up an evil hill. I saw the church where the finish was, and blazed on in (relatively speaking). I finished in 29:07.

Turns out my finish wasn't really 29:07. Well, technically it was, but they didn't put the cones in the right place at the turnaround, so it was a little shy of 5k. But, that doesn't count, because I didn't know it until after the race...

And the person GoofyBaby and I were trying to beat? Oh yeah. We did it. But the Jack Russell still took us. That dog is mine next year!

No comments: