The weather this morning was cold: about 61 degrees with a wind chill. Since the run was on the beach, it felt extra miserable with the ocean breeze. When it's cold, I typically wear long sleeve shirts and pants because I'm always freezing, but today I had on only my long sleeve shirt. I stuck with this outfit because I knew it would get hot during the run because we were starting later in the day: 8a.m.!!
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| On my way to the race! |
We line up to start and I decided to get up near the front. I usually hang in the back and like to weave up through the crowds, but it takes a lot of energy weaving through everyone. The race starts, and we're off. Everyone starts off their pace and the front group takes off. As we start running, a young woman gets a little ahead of me, and so I decided to maintain pace with her. I hang back a little, but try to keep strong.
I pass the first mile at 7:12 and I already know that I'll be burning out by mile 3. I had started too fast again and need to work harder on not starting too fast. When I start out too fast, I reach a point of exhaustion and fatigue early on in the race making it hard to pick up my speed and "kick" at the end. I keep going though and try to stay close to the woman in front of me. However, once we get to mile 3 it's over, this young woman picks up her pace and strides towards the finish. I try to maintain the same pace and run it in at a 23:59.
Now, during my races I definitely have a "kill me now" moment when I push my limits. My breathing hurts, and I have pain somewhere in my body. I always think about how easy it would be to give up, but at the same time I always yell at myself for even having that thought. This internal battle always happens during my intense runs. However, my determined attitude keeps me from giving up. I love pushing myself and challenging myself to do better. I don't think that part of me will ever go away. Even whenever we decide to have kids. I'm definitely happy about my time and have now entered the under 24 min 5K group. I eventually would like to get under 23 mins, but let's take it one step at a time.
On a side note: my friend N tore her ACL and MCL this past week. That type of injury is so incredibly hard, and I feel horrible that she is facing this injury. Not just because of how painful it is, but also because it forces you to be immobile. Now if you know N, you know she's always on the move, which makes having this injury that much worse. I've been praying that she has a quick recovery, and can slowly regain mobility in her knee. I'm hoping that the MRI results she receives is good news, until then I plan on checking in on her every day.
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