(Pictures were taken on Naomi's SUPER LAME camera phone because we forgot to bring the real camera!)
Well I did it! I checked off another part of my goal this year to run a 5K, 10K, 1/2 Marathon, and Marathon by January 2011, and it felt AWESOME! Kevin and I woke up at 5am on Saturday, July 24th, got dressed to run, woke up and dressed our girls, and then hopped in the car to go pick up our babysitter, Alexa. It was POURING rain when we got outside and there was thunder so loud that it was scaring me as much as it was scaring my kids! We were worried that the race would be canceled but we made the hour drive north anyway in case the weather felt like going easy on us.
When we got to the race site in Hoffman Estates, IL the storm was still raging, but there were other runners there and we had hope that we would get to race and wouldn't be "out" our registration fee. Everyone was huddled under a bridge-ish-thingy waiting for the announcement that soon came...we WOULD be racing! Just a half hour later than we had expected. This gave me plenty of time to panic, stress, and go pee 7 times before the race started! (I get the nervous peepees when I'm...well, nervous!)
The extra half hour passed and we lined up at the start line in the now, less-than-scary rain. I was hyperventilating a little while thoughts of my stupidity raced through my brain. 6.2 miles! Kevin does stuff like that, not me! I dance, hike, and play with kids! But running is for crazy people like Kevin, Becca, and Natalie. Fast people with nice legs and a competitive edge. I was very aware of the fact that the rain had scared away all the non-serious runners like myself, leaving me at the end of the pack with my 15 minute miles. And truthfully, although I'm not a very competitive person, I didn't really want to come in last place!
BEEP! The buzzer went off and it was time to run! I had my i pod wrapped in saran wrap (to protect it from the rain) and safety pinned to my pants, blaring my favorite tunes as I started my slow trot around the course. I had started near the front of the pack but within the first 5 minutes of running, there were only about 10 people left behind me! Wow! I knew I was slow but honestly, being passed by a couple hundred people in just a couple hundred seconds is REALLY discouraging!
It rained for the first mile but then it stopped, leaving dark clouds behind to block the sun and cool the air. I was just noticing how much nicer it was to run in the cool weather when we came running in to the first water stop, 1.5 miles into the race! Woohoo! I usually feel like death for my first mile but I didn't even notice how far I'd gone. Maybe I would survive after all. I took some water (spilled all over myself) and kept going. Soon a girl dressed entirely in pink passed me by and I happened to look at her face and notice how zoned out and happy she was. She was in her own world and was having a blast even though she was just barely faster than me. Her attitude inspired me and made me happy as well. The rest of the run I was smiling ear to ear, not noticing my sweat, fatigue, or slowness at all!
Soon I got to my fifth mile and the course split. The 1/2 marathoners kept going straight into the forest preserve and the 10K-ers turned left and headed back to the finish line. I had been pacing off the pink girl the whole time but she ended up going the way of the 1/2, so I was alone again being passed by the fast 1/2 marathoners who had now rejoined the course. It was in that moment that I realized I wasn't tired at all, in fact, I had a huge surge of energy! So I started to run faster...and faster...and faster, and before I knew it I was rounding the last bend and exploding with energy! Everyone was cheering me on for sprinting which made me go faster and then I saw the clock, ran under it, and was DONE!
I finished in 1:14:51! I think that puts me at a 12 minute mile pace which is 3 minutes faster per mile than my 4 mile race in May! I think I came in 87th out of 100 people, so I wasn't in last place and I was VERY proud of myself! Once I wiped the silly grin off my face, I drank some Gatorade, found Alexa and the girls, and then we waited for Kevin to finish the 1/2 marathon! (He'll have to tell you about his experience some other time!) Anyway, I'm super pumped that I can do hard things and am excited for my upcoming 1/2 marathon in September, as well as the Red Rock Relay I will be running around the same time! Wish me luck!
When we got to the race site in Hoffman Estates, IL the storm was still raging, but there were other runners there and we had hope that we would get to race and wouldn't be "out" our registration fee. Everyone was huddled under a bridge-ish-thingy waiting for the announcement that soon came...we WOULD be racing! Just a half hour later than we had expected. This gave me plenty of time to panic, stress, and go pee 7 times before the race started! (I get the nervous peepees when I'm...well, nervous!)
The extra half hour passed and we lined up at the start line in the now, less-than-scary rain. I was hyperventilating a little while thoughts of my stupidity raced through my brain. 6.2 miles! Kevin does stuff like that, not me! I dance, hike, and play with kids! But running is for crazy people like Kevin, Becca, and Natalie. Fast people with nice legs and a competitive edge. I was very aware of the fact that the rain had scared away all the non-serious runners like myself, leaving me at the end of the pack with my 15 minute miles. And truthfully, although I'm not a very competitive person, I didn't really want to come in last place!
BEEP! The buzzer went off and it was time to run! I had my i pod wrapped in saran wrap (to protect it from the rain) and safety pinned to my pants, blaring my favorite tunes as I started my slow trot around the course. I had started near the front of the pack but within the first 5 minutes of running, there were only about 10 people left behind me! Wow! I knew I was slow but honestly, being passed by a couple hundred people in just a couple hundred seconds is REALLY discouraging!
It rained for the first mile but then it stopped, leaving dark clouds behind to block the sun and cool the air. I was just noticing how much nicer it was to run in the cool weather when we came running in to the first water stop, 1.5 miles into the race! Woohoo! I usually feel like death for my first mile but I didn't even notice how far I'd gone. Maybe I would survive after all. I took some water (spilled all over myself) and kept going. Soon a girl dressed entirely in pink passed me by and I happened to look at her face and notice how zoned out and happy she was. She was in her own world and was having a blast even though she was just barely faster than me. Her attitude inspired me and made me happy as well. The rest of the run I was smiling ear to ear, not noticing my sweat, fatigue, or slowness at all!
Soon I got to my fifth mile and the course split. The 1/2 marathoners kept going straight into the forest preserve and the 10K-ers turned left and headed back to the finish line. I had been pacing off the pink girl the whole time but she ended up going the way of the 1/2, so I was alone again being passed by the fast 1/2 marathoners who had now rejoined the course. It was in that moment that I realized I wasn't tired at all, in fact, I had a huge surge of energy! So I started to run faster...and faster...and faster, and before I knew it I was rounding the last bend and exploding with energy! Everyone was cheering me on for sprinting which made me go faster and then I saw the clock, ran under it, and was DONE!
I finished in 1:14:51! I think that puts me at a 12 minute mile pace which is 3 minutes faster per mile than my 4 mile race in May! I think I came in 87th out of 100 people, so I wasn't in last place and I was VERY proud of myself! Once I wiped the silly grin off my face, I drank some Gatorade, found Alexa and the girls, and then we waited for Kevin to finish the 1/2 marathon! (He'll have to tell you about his experience some other time!) Anyway, I'm super pumped that I can do hard things and am excited for my upcoming 1/2 marathon in September, as well as the Red Rock Relay I will be running around the same time! Wish me luck!
6 comments:
That sounded great! It ALMOST makes me want to try running... (I'll just sit on the couch until the feeling goes away!)
YAY!!!!! I'm so proud of you! Congrats on finishing that next goal! The relay will be no sweat for you if you did that 10K so well. Can't wait to run it with you :)
Way to go Naomi! That is awesome. We're excited to have you on our Redrock team. It is going to be a lot of fun. Keep it up and enjoy the journey!
If you think the nervous pee-pees are bad...try having the nervous poops! WAY worse! hahahaha! (Was that TMI for a public forum?) Anyway, totally feel you on that my sista, totally feel ya!
That's rad that you got to run in the rain. My fastest 5K was in a torrential downpour and I kind of loved it. I'll take cool rain over running in the heat ANY DAY!!
Sounds like you were really in your zone and totally killed your pace from your last race!! I'm proud of you dude. Truth is, I couldn't run 6 miles tomorrow if I wanted to, so you beat me too girl! ha! un-competitve or not, that's gotta feel good! You rock!
p.s. Can't wait to hear about Kevin's half. Tell him to post about it NOW!
Way to go! You TOTALLY rock. I'm glad it was such a good experience!
Congrats Naomi! Glad the race wasn't cancelled and it was a great warm-up for Sept. Good luck for both upcoming races. We live right by the "Eyes to the Skies festival" it was great!!
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