As I mentioned in an earlier post, my first intention when I set my sights on a longer distance to run was the Disney Princess Half Marathon. For a very happy reason (professional singing engagement) I decided to move that up to the Disney Marathon Weekend Half. That is coming up in just a couple of weeks!
It has been quite a journey to get to this point and I am excited to get here! I am a little nervous about getting up so blasted EARLY for the race but I know it will be worth it.
One nice thing about this trip is that my mother, my BRF and my sister will all be going too. BRF and sister are running the race and mom is our cheering section! We are also planning to spend Saturday in the Magic Kingdom. Lots of special plans with dinner on top of the Contemporary during the fireworks on Saturday night and other special treats. I am really looking forward to it!
Friday, December 28, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
What now? Post race weirdness
I never ran before December 2011. In the midst of a 40+ pound weight loss journey, I thought I would give it a try. I started slow and gradually worked my way up to running for 30 minutes straight. Did my first 5k ever and averaged about a 12 minute mile. Some friends convinced me to set my sights on longer distances. I joined a running group, figured out which pace group worked for me and set my sights on a half marathon.
Well, I accomplished that and just after that feeling of victory and elation I was left with.... well, what now? It is not that I am even contemplating giving up running but I feel weird not having that goal in front of me to work toward and accomplish. And before you say "Well, duh... pick another race!" I have already done that. I will be running the Disney Marathon weekend half in January.
Now I have to choose some wise goals that are slightly less obvious than just distance goals which, in retrospect, were the only real goals I had before. To that end, I have purchased a couple of books to help me figure out WHICH goals to set and how to get there. The first is the FIRST book. (Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training) aka Runners World Run Less, Run Faster. My friend has been using this book and I like that it gives you a specific cross training plan and it tells you the pace you should be aiming for in each run. So, I have set up a plan based on their advice for my training leading up to the Disney run.
A second goal is to strengthen the backs of my legs. I have always had strong, developed quads and the more I look into it, the more I realize that is a common trait of young women. I don't qualify as a "young" woman anymore but this has always been true of my legs so I am interested in how I can develop those muscles and have some specific ideas for how to go about doing so. I have discovered that youtube is a great resource for this kind of thing.
For example, one draw back to relative weakness in the hamstrings and glutes is IT Band issues. The Gluteus Medius muscle is responsible for stability in the hips and if your quads are WAY stronger, then some pulling on the IT band can happen and the knee starts to suffer. One way to strengthen the gluteus medius is the clamshell but often the quads will try to help. Cycling Physio explains how to isolate the Gluteus Medius.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jv47LnS4eVo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
So - stuff like this is the direction I am going these days. :)
Well, I accomplished that and just after that feeling of victory and elation I was left with.... well, what now? It is not that I am even contemplating giving up running but I feel weird not having that goal in front of me to work toward and accomplish. And before you say "Well, duh... pick another race!" I have already done that. I will be running the Disney Marathon weekend half in January.
Now I have to choose some wise goals that are slightly less obvious than just distance goals which, in retrospect, were the only real goals I had before. To that end, I have purchased a couple of books to help me figure out WHICH goals to set and how to get there. The first is the FIRST book. (Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training) aka Runners World Run Less, Run Faster. My friend has been using this book and I like that it gives you a specific cross training plan and it tells you the pace you should be aiming for in each run. So, I have set up a plan based on their advice for my training leading up to the Disney run.
A second goal is to strengthen the backs of my legs. I have always had strong, developed quads and the more I look into it, the more I realize that is a common trait of young women. I don't qualify as a "young" woman anymore but this has always been true of my legs so I am interested in how I can develop those muscles and have some specific ideas for how to go about doing so. I have discovered that youtube is a great resource for this kind of thing.
For example, one draw back to relative weakness in the hamstrings and glutes is IT Band issues. The Gluteus Medius muscle is responsible for stability in the hips and if your quads are WAY stronger, then some pulling on the IT band can happen and the knee starts to suffer. One way to strengthen the gluteus medius is the clamshell but often the quads will try to help. Cycling Physio explains how to isolate the Gluteus Medius.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jv47LnS4eVo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
So - stuff like this is the direction I am going these days. :)
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Spinx Run Fest Half Marathon 2012
Race report: My first Half Marathon
When I first had the idea of doing a half marathon, the
Disney Princess race was in my mind. Then I quickly realized that I would be
ready WAY earlier so I looked for a half marathon in the fall. I thought I was
all set with the Silver Comet half since it is sponsored by my running group
Get Fit Atlanta, but life intervenes. My husband, who is an avid cyclist, found
out about the George Hincapie GranFondo and it was the same day as the Silver
Comet. “No worries!” Says I. I will just switch to the Spinx Run Fest half
marathon in Greenville, SC where the Hincpaie event also takes place and for
which my sister is already signed up! (more on the concurrence of these events
later)
As I looked at the course map for this event, (especially
the course elevations) I had my doubts about the appropriateness of this
particular event for a first time long distance run, but I thought, “Hey, how
much harder could it be anyway?” “Why should I be picky about something like
this? I am not going to win the thing anyway!” So that is my mindset going into
the race. I was nervous about taking on a task so large and nervous about the
state of my knee, (see previous post re The Great Shoe Debacle) but generally
feeling pretty good about the race. I had some pace goals and felt pretty
confident about my ability to make them, assuming my knee cooperated.
Goal #1: Don’t start
too fast!
I intended to use the first 3 miles as a sort of warm-up and
then give the rest of the race more effort. So I intended to do all three of
these at 11:00/mile pace. No problem. My sister took her first walk break after
mile 1 so I kept going by myself.
Goal #2 pick up the
pace little by little
I actually managed this pretty well for the first little
bit. Then at mile 6, my knee started talking to me and I got a little concerned
so I slowed down a bit. Mile 8 coincided with the beginning of a pretty intense
set of hills. (Read, uphill for 2 miles straight). But this was actually sort
of a blessing in disguise because it kind of gave my knee a little break. Or
anyway, it must have because after those hills I noticed that my knee wasn’t
talking to me anymore. Well, not loudly. So I picked the pace back up. There
were some hills in the last 3 miles but I managed them pretty well,
considering. In fact, my fastest split was mile 13 at 10:15/mile.
Goal #3 Finish!
I did that in spades. My final time was 2:28 according to
the gun time and 2:27:42 by my watch. That is an average pace of 11:12/mile
which is very respectable, considering.
What did I learn?
Racing a half
marathon – even if it is “ONLY” a
half – is a big deal.
It is long enough to be really hard mentally. I still had that mental struggle with myself about ¾ of the way through. I have heard friends who say the same thing about a full and I wonder if it is just that way with any distance. Maybe three fourths of the way through any race you hit a mental wall. “WHY DID I SIGN UP FOR THIS?” “WHAT WAS I THINKING?”
It is long enough to be really hard mentally. I still had that mental struggle with myself about ¾ of the way through. I have heard friends who say the same thing about a full and I wonder if it is just that way with any distance. Maybe three fourths of the way through any race you hit a mental wall. “WHY DID I SIGN UP FOR THIS?” “WHAT WAS I THINKING?”
Racing 13.1 miles is
a lot different than a training run of the same distance.
Why should this be? It is the same distance. The pace isn’t THAT much different. Or it wasn’t for me anyway. Is it purely mental? In a training run, you are sort of “all in this together” but in a race you are on your own even if you are running with a friend. Or maybe you feel more pressure to get in front of just that person right there. And after passing him or her, you want to pass the next one too.
Why should this be? It is the same distance. The pace isn’t THAT much different. Or it wasn’t for me anyway. Is it purely mental? In a training run, you are sort of “all in this together” but in a race you are on your own even if you are running with a friend. Or maybe you feel more pressure to get in front of just that person right there. And after passing him or her, you want to pass the next one too.
Running hills just
isn’t as hard as I always thought it was.
I can’t tell you how much I hate to say this…. "Thank you
Nickajack." There, I said it. The training route I run on Saturday long runs
includes a VERY long uphill jaunt at the very end. Almost 2 miles of elevation
gain. We ALL complain about it. And don’t get me wrong. It is HARD. But it
trained me to be able to get up the hill and more importantly because I am now
accustomed to it, to not be AFRAID of the hill.
Two races in one
day is not really practical
As I mentioned above, my husband did the HincapieGranFondo in Greenville, SC and had a great (if VERY challenging) experience.
Lucky for me, my parents came up and hung out with our two girls but even so,
our both doing races on the same day is not something I want to repeat. Not only
were the logistics challenging, the recovery was really tough on everyone.
Including the kids. They really need at least one parent to be functioning at
full capacity! That was not something that I had taken into account.
I really love to
run
Who am I? I can assure you that this was not always the
case. I wanted to run. I remember trying to run in Health Education Science
class at Furman and just not feeling like I could. Nobody ever told me that I
could plan to run a little and walk a little and that I could stay slow. That
is what finally made me able to get running. And I LOVE it. I love how strong I feel and that I have used
my body in a good way. I wish I could time-travel and tell my younger self what
I know now. Of course, that would be true of many many other things as well!
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Knee update: OR "The great shoe debacle"
After attempting to run on Saturday and continuing to experience the same pain-weirdness in my left knee, I don't mind telling you that I was discouraged and fearful that something had really gone wrong. I had all kinds of worst case scenarios going around in my head.
Runner's knee?
IT Band Syndrome?
Torn Cartilage?
Oh my!
But when my rational brain had a moment to chip in, it reminded me that I didn't have any trauma, so there was probably no tear. IT Band syndrome is a syndrome and comes on gradually and Runner's knee is a similar scenario. I didn't feel strongly enough to rule any of those out, but tried to prevent myself from going off the deep end. I was also focusing on something the coach of my running group said...
"Aren't those new shoes...?"
Hang on a sec. They ARE new shoes. I have been running with absolutely NO problems for months and months and these issues first came up after my first long run in the new shoes. Maybe there is something going on with the shoes? Several people suggested that I go back to Big Peach Running where I GOT the shoes because they are really good about taking them back if there are problems.
Friends, THIS is one of MANY reasons why you go to a specialty running store for your running needs.
So, slightly anxious and feeling a little weird about it, I went by the Big Peach near my house where I usually shop for running stuff. It just so happened that the guy who originally helped me pick out the shoes helped me again today. See, they didn't have my size in the new shoes I wanted, so I ended up going to another location to pick them up the next day. I explained my situation and he was very understanding and basically said, let's make this right. I sat down, showed him my old shoes and we looked at the wear pattern which he said was a good wear pattern that showed that my foot strike was right where I wanted it to be. (that is nice to hear)
And I pulled out the new shoes and he immediately said "Wait, those aren't the right shoes!" The other location had not sold me the shoes that I had intended to purchase!
Long story short, I had basically gone from a highly structured rather cushy shoe to almost a minimalist shoe. He used the phrase "cross trainer" to describe the above shoes. That is a BIG difference. And while I would probably have been perfectly happy with the shoes I had INTENDED to buy because they molded to my feet just perfectly, I was a little bit gun shy so I decided to go with the newer version of my old shoes.
So today, I will be going out for a very short run and paying attention to my knee. When I ran a little yesterday while trying on the shoe, I was pretty comfortable and could immediately tell a difference. Hopefully this will be the end of my knee weirdness.
Runner's knee?
IT Band Syndrome?
Torn Cartilage?
Oh my!
But when my rational brain had a moment to chip in, it reminded me that I didn't have any trauma, so there was probably no tear. IT Band syndrome is a syndrome and comes on gradually and Runner's knee is a similar scenario. I didn't feel strongly enough to rule any of those out, but tried to prevent myself from going off the deep end. I was also focusing on something the coach of my running group said...
"Aren't those new shoes...?"
Hang on a sec. They ARE new shoes. I have been running with absolutely NO problems for months and months and these issues first came up after my first long run in the new shoes. Maybe there is something going on with the shoes? Several people suggested that I go back to Big Peach Running where I GOT the shoes because they are really good about taking them back if there are problems.
Friends, THIS is one of MANY reasons why you go to a specialty running store for your running needs.
So, slightly anxious and feeling a little weird about it, I went by the Big Peach near my house where I usually shop for running stuff. It just so happened that the guy who originally helped me pick out the shoes helped me again today. See, they didn't have my size in the new shoes I wanted, so I ended up going to another location to pick them up the next day. I explained my situation and he was very understanding and basically said, let's make this right. I sat down, showed him my old shoes and we looked at the wear pattern which he said was a good wear pattern that showed that my foot strike was right where I wanted it to be. (that is nice to hear)
And I pulled out the new shoes and he immediately said "Wait, those aren't the right shoes!" The other location had not sold me the shoes that I had intended to purchase!
 |
| Mistakenly got these shoes. |
Long story short, I had basically gone from a highly structured rather cushy shoe to almost a minimalist shoe. He used the phrase "cross trainer" to describe the above shoes. That is a BIG difference. And while I would probably have been perfectly happy with the shoes I had INTENDED to buy because they molded to my feet just perfectly, I was a little bit gun shy so I decided to go with the newer version of my old shoes.
 |
| Old shoes that got me through a BUNCH of miles very comfortably. |
So today, I will be going out for a very short run and paying attention to my knee. When I ran a little yesterday while trying on the shoe, I was pretty comfortable and could immediately tell a difference. Hopefully this will be the end of my knee weirdness.
 |
| The hope of my knee's happiness rests in this box. |
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Knee Weirdness
So my left knee is acting weird. It all started last Monday on the treadmill. Felt a little twinge or weakness while I was doing speedwork. Then Tuesday on my trail run after about 3 miles, my left knee just felt weak and tight and wrong. I walked the remainder of the way back to the car and thought, hm, this is strange. So I decided to take a few days off and hope that with some rest we would be back where we were.
Nope.
Saturday morning, felt some of the same weirdness pretty early but thought it might just need to warm up. It sort of went away every once in a while but basically after about 4 miles it was clear that I needed to stop running. I was mystified. I hadn't had any injury and had been running pretty much comfortably for 9 months with absolutely no knee issues whatsoever. Then the coach of my running group mentioned my new shoes. 2 weeks old. Only one long run in them and the very next run was the one with problems.
This might just be the issue. I had no idea something like this could come on so quickly.
Nope.
Saturday morning, felt some of the same weirdness pretty early but thought it might just need to warm up. It sort of went away every once in a while but basically after about 4 miles it was clear that I needed to stop running. I was mystified. I hadn't had any injury and had been running pretty much comfortably for 9 months with absolutely no knee issues whatsoever. Then the coach of my running group mentioned my new shoes. 2 weeks old. Only one long run in them and the very next run was the one with problems.
This might just be the issue. I had no idea something like this could come on so quickly.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Firefly 5k 2012
This was a race that I was supposed to run with all my students. 12 out of 15 of them raised their hands that they were definitely going to participate. Well, only 4 of them actually registered, alas. And then, it was SO HUGE that I couldn't connect with all of THEM. So, the whole point of this 5 k which was to hang out with my students didn't happen, but it did give them something to work toward and I managed to set a personal record.
That sounds a lot more impressive than it probably was since my first 5 k was when I had only been running for slightly more than 3 months. But I did beat it by about 5 minutes! :)
But I am getting ahead of myself.
What a weird way to do a run. Wake up in the crack of dawn and run 14 miles. Go home, shower and eat. Nap. Take 7yo to get her ears pierced. Promptly take her to get for-yo for being so brave about it. Buy the best fitting jeans ever and in the smallest size I have worn since grad school. Jet home to meet Daddy after his bike ride. Jet to mid-town ATL to meet friends for dinner at Yeahburger. (Wonder to self how you can possibly eat anything here and then expect to run a 5k race in an hour and a half.) Eat turkey burger. Get dropped off at entrance to race. Pick up race stuff. Meet back up with family and plan for after.
Realize there are 4 THOUSAND people in the race. Holy moly!
Make way down to start line. Realize start of race is all uphill for about a mile. Okey-dokey.
Race starts.
Bob and weave around a LOT of people. Realize I forgot to start my Garmin. (Dang-it!) Wonder how I am going to make it through some clogs of humanity but manage it anyway. Silently and grudgingly thank race organizers for starting on the uphill as it spread people out very nicely, thank you very much. Get to the top of the hill finally and realize that I am feeling pretty darn good and am running at a pace that is actually a little fast (for me). Wonder briefly if I should slow down but don't.
Pass a BUNCH of people.
GET passed by a bunch of people including -
a fairy
a little kid
three drunk college guys CARRYING beer cans.(I didn't mind so much because they were pretty "easy on the eyes" if you know what I mean)
several MORE fairies of the non-dressed-up variety
and finally, one of my students who was surprisingly VERY fast
Find my family and get some sweet little girl hugs and kisses.
Chip time was 30:28 which just makes me want to break that 30 minute mark all the more!!!
That sounds a lot more impressive than it probably was since my first 5 k was when I had only been running for slightly more than 3 months. But I did beat it by about 5 minutes! :)
But I am getting ahead of myself.
What a weird way to do a run. Wake up in the crack of dawn and run 14 miles. Go home, shower and eat. Nap. Take 7yo to get her ears pierced. Promptly take her to get for-yo for being so brave about it. Buy the best fitting jeans ever and in the smallest size I have worn since grad school. Jet home to meet Daddy after his bike ride. Jet to mid-town ATL to meet friends for dinner at Yeahburger. (Wonder to self how you can possibly eat anything here and then expect to run a 5k race in an hour and a half.) Eat turkey burger. Get dropped off at entrance to race. Pick up race stuff. Meet back up with family and plan for after.
Realize there are 4 THOUSAND people in the race. Holy moly!
Make way down to start line. Realize start of race is all uphill for about a mile. Okey-dokey.
Race starts.
Bob and weave around a LOT of people. Realize I forgot to start my Garmin. (Dang-it!) Wonder how I am going to make it through some clogs of humanity but manage it anyway. Silently and grudgingly thank race organizers for starting on the uphill as it spread people out very nicely, thank you very much. Get to the top of the hill finally and realize that I am feeling pretty darn good and am running at a pace that is actually a little fast (for me). Wonder briefly if I should slow down but don't.
Pass a BUNCH of people.
GET passed by a bunch of people including -
a fairy
a little kid
three drunk college guys CARRYING beer cans.(I didn't mind so much because they were pretty "easy on the eyes" if you know what I mean)
several MORE fairies of the non-dressed-up variety
and finally, one of my students who was surprisingly VERY fast
Find my family and get some sweet little girl hugs and kisses.
Chip time was 30:28 which just makes me want to break that 30 minute mark all the more!!!
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Dirty Spokes XTERRA Harbins Park Trail 10K
Karla and I arrived nice and early around 7:30 am (for the 8:30 am start) and managed to NOT have to wait in line for the potty too long. We picked up our race numbers and a little schwag (Dirty Spokes Beer glass, Power Ade Gels and Power Bar plus a sticker for my office window!) and stored it all in the car before taking a little warm up run down the street and back up. I was feeling pretty good and surprisingly NOT nervous.
Our plan was this:
We all lined up about 50 yards away from the official start for the "parade" lap and got started right at 8:30 AM. (They weren't kidding about the race starting on time.) It is REALLY hard to not get caught up in the enthusiasm and the pace of the people around you. We were a little faster than we wanted to be right at the beginning but we reined it in and stayed within our planned pace (we were at 10:50ish).
My thoughts:
Start - Hey, that was kind of a long run to get us started but I guess that's cool because we all kind of spread out.
Mile 1 - How fast am I really going? I have GOT to get a Garmin. I can't tell how fast I am. I hope I don't go to fast. There is supposed to be a big hill at mile 2.7. Got to rein it in until then. After that, I can cut loose.
Mile 2 (ish) Where is the Mile 2 marker? Did we pass it? Was THAT the big hill? It was after the bridge. I sure hope my ankle doesn't act up if I step funny on something. I am feeling really good and not like I am pushing at all. If my Nike+ App is accurate - and I feel pretty sure it is not - then we are a tiny bit fast, but I am feeling really good.
Mile 3 - Oh, here is the hill they were talking about. It isn't so bad. After this I can cut loose.
Ouch! I just stepped funny on my weird foot. Oh, I hope I don't turn it again. That would really stink. (Steps weird 2 more times.)
Mile 4 - I was promised downhills after the big hill. This is a LOT of uphills. And they are steep. Short though. I keep passing that one dude with the camel back thing and the beard. He is a little strange looking. Oh look, that is the girl who passed us earlier. She is giving out. I am still feeling strong!
(Steps weird) F%&*!!! That hurt! Ok - good. Not hurting anymore. I really don't want another injury. It's all good.
Mile 5 - We must be getting close to the end of the trail. Oh, look, there are people up there on the paved section toward the end. I am really pushing it here but still feeling good. I didn't think I would be able to "race" but look at me. I am outside my comfort zone and I feel good!
Mile 6 - We are on the paved trail now. MORE uphill. Sheesh. (Secretly thankful for the hills that are Nickajack - don't tell anyone.) Oh look, there is a photographer. Try to look happy. Tell friend to be aware of photog. The end is near - just have to repeat the parade route and we are done. Last big hill. Friend starts to give a little kick. I start to give a little kick. We are right together. She gives a little more. I give a little more. We finish neck and neck. (which is really saying something since her legs are about 8 feet long and mine are ---- not.)
I am out of breath and want some water but I am feeling REALLY good. Feel good about our pace. Feel good about my effort - especially toward the end. Just generally, feel good!
Why I am happy about this race:
I got to run it at all.
I had tweaked my ankle on my weird foot and wasn't sure I would be able to run this trail race. It turned out that it just needed a day or two of TLC and was totally fine.
It was free.
You know how active.com sends you those special offers? This was one of them and i happened to be one of the first 5 people to respond and got to do this race for free!
I got to run it with my friend.
Cannot stress how much of a difference this made. My friend is a former competitive runner and is just generally competitive in life. Not in an ugly way, in a healthy way! Being with her and hearing her external thought process was really cool and got me in a place where I was going beyond my usually conservative outlook to see what I could do. That was awesome!
Our plan was this:
- Start off the first 3 miles at around an 11:00/mile pace up until the "big hill" at mile 2.7
- Survive the hill and get some water
- Push the pace for the last half of the race to about 10:00 - 10:30 as we felt capable
We all lined up about 50 yards away from the official start for the "parade" lap and got started right at 8:30 AM. (They weren't kidding about the race starting on time.) It is REALLY hard to not get caught up in the enthusiasm and the pace of the people around you. We were a little faster than we wanted to be right at the beginning but we reined it in and stayed within our planned pace (we were at 10:50ish).
My thoughts:
Start - Hey, that was kind of a long run to get us started but I guess that's cool because we all kind of spread out.
Mile 1 - How fast am I really going? I have GOT to get a Garmin. I can't tell how fast I am. I hope I don't go to fast. There is supposed to be a big hill at mile 2.7. Got to rein it in until then. After that, I can cut loose.
Mile 2 (ish) Where is the Mile 2 marker? Did we pass it? Was THAT the big hill? It was after the bridge. I sure hope my ankle doesn't act up if I step funny on something. I am feeling really good and not like I am pushing at all. If my Nike+ App is accurate - and I feel pretty sure it is not - then we are a tiny bit fast, but I am feeling really good.
Mile 3 - Oh, here is the hill they were talking about. It isn't so bad. After this I can cut loose.
Ouch! I just stepped funny on my weird foot. Oh, I hope I don't turn it again. That would really stink. (Steps weird 2 more times.)
Mile 4 - I was promised downhills after the big hill. This is a LOT of uphills. And they are steep. Short though. I keep passing that one dude with the camel back thing and the beard. He is a little strange looking. Oh look, that is the girl who passed us earlier. She is giving out. I am still feeling strong!
(Steps weird) F%&*!!! That hurt! Ok - good. Not hurting anymore. I really don't want another injury. It's all good.
Mile 5 - We must be getting close to the end of the trail. Oh, look, there are people up there on the paved section toward the end. I am really pushing it here but still feeling good. I didn't think I would be able to "race" but look at me. I am outside my comfort zone and I feel good!
Mile 6 - We are on the paved trail now. MORE uphill. Sheesh. (Secretly thankful for the hills that are Nickajack - don't tell anyone.) Oh look, there is a photographer. Try to look happy. Tell friend to be aware of photog. The end is near - just have to repeat the parade route and we are done. Last big hill. Friend starts to give a little kick. I start to give a little kick. We are right together. She gives a little more. I give a little more. We finish neck and neck. (which is really saying something since her legs are about 8 feet long and mine are ---- not.)
I am out of breath and want some water but I am feeling REALLY good. Feel good about our pace. Feel good about my effort - especially toward the end. Just generally, feel good!
Why I am happy about this race:
I got to run it at all.
I had tweaked my ankle on my weird foot and wasn't sure I would be able to run this trail race. It turned out that it just needed a day or two of TLC and was totally fine.
It was free.
You know how active.com sends you those special offers? This was one of them and i happened to be one of the first 5 people to respond and got to do this race for free!
I got to run it with my friend.
Cannot stress how much of a difference this made. My friend is a former competitive runner and is just generally competitive in life. Not in an ugly way, in a healthy way! Being with her and hearing her external thought process was really cool and got me in a place where I was going beyond my usually conservative outlook to see what I could do. That was awesome!
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