Why take life too seriously?! There are things that happen every day that make me smile. Sometimes it's a question or story from my son. Sometimes it's a quirky thing heard over the cubicle wall. Many times it's dysfunctional things we say or do at family gatherings. Life happens. Let's enjoy it!
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Giving Your Heart and Sole
Even though it was hubby's birthday today (shhhh, he didn't want anyone to know), I was the one who felt old. Or at least in need of some good reading glasses.
Last week I decided to sign up for the annual Heart & Sole Run at Pittsville. This is the 30th year of the event, which is always held July 3 as a benefit for their fire department. Anytime I have pondered doing it, it's been 95 degrees with 118% humidity. And that's for a 7 p.m. race! So I've never done it. When I saw the forecast call for only a high of 79 or 80 today, I decided to sign up.
I thought the options were a kids race, a 2-mile race and a 5K. I decided to sign up for the 5K because I'll be doing one at the end of July and this would be a good starting point to see how far I have to go with my progress. With the recent running app I have been letting dictate my run/walks, I have been doing some running but it still has equaled about half walking.
Sometime late this afternoon I decided to double-check the race website and see where I needed to be and at what time. Here's a rule of thumb when registering for a race: Make sure it says 5K not 5 mile! Not kidding. Wow. That was a surprise just an hour before leaving the house.
Well I knew I was not ready to run a 5-mile race. Even walking some of it, that's a stretch when I am only in the middle of my Couch to 5K transition. Secondly, when I got to Pittsville and saw that it was still 84 degrees out at 6 p.m., I knew I had to find a way to switch my registration to the 2-mile run. My body was not ready for the long haul... in heat.
Thankfully they let me switch to the 2-mile run without any problems or extra costs. All I had to do was figure out how I was going to run it all without walking. A 2-mile race is pretty much a sprint, after all.
For the record, I don't do sprints. Except for those 15-second ones in my app, which are always followed by walking. So my goal was just to make it through without having to walk. I wanted to finish in 22 minutes or less, knowing that my "run" might be more like an 11-minute-mile "jog."
They had all participants for 2- and 5-mile races start together. I did not realize what a big event this is. Somewhere between 800-1,000 people. That's awesome. And a reality check that all I could do was try my best.
I started off at a good pace that felt perhaps too fast for me to keep up. At the mile turn-around, my time was 9:42. Wow, less than a 10-minute mile? Could I keep that up? I really wanted to walk already since I am used to walking after a good short run. But I talked myself into plugging along even if I slowed down.
I think I realized I was going slower because I initiated one helluva sprint for at least the last quarter mile or so. I felt like I was running 20 mph as I passed at least a dozen people, especially any women who looked like they were in the 40-49 age group. Ha. Not kidding. As I crossed the finish line I realized I finished in less than 20 minutes!
19 minutes, 48 seconds, to be precise. Much better than I expected. And no, I can't just tack on another mile and expect to do my 5K (for real) at the end of the month at that pace. But I can now work toward it.
Turns out I finished 10th out of 55 runners in my age division. Respectable! I also finished 100 out of the 340 female 2-milers and 266 out of all 628 2-milers. Definitely respectable for a first-timer.
And for an old lady who apparently needs glasses!
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