5K Day- 4th of July!

Good evening all. I'm taking a break from getting ready for the week ahead... a 5 day week?! What AM I going to do?!

Well anyway, yesterday, I ran in a 5K. My goal was to run the whole thing... and run it in under 40 min (37 to be exact). I've said it before, and I'll say it again- I was not born a runner. I'm not built like a runner. Endurance is not my thing, and it never has been. I'm more of a bulky sprinter/weight lifter type person. I'm a FAST runner... but for a VERY short amount of time... and then I fizzle. That said...

In the morning, I started the day off with a piece of Ezekiel with AB and organic jelly, and water of course. I didn't want to have too heavy of a breakfast. Now unfortunately, we had to be out the door by 6:55am to get to the race site on time. YIKES! Too bad the night before we stayed up past 11:00pm... DOUBLE YIKES! But, overall, I felt pretty good, and not too tired. Yet.

We got to the race site, signed in, and pinned on my number. Number 2. Ok... weird.



My Superman pose- like I'm going to go save the day or something. So I was all rearin' to go. I had my heart rate monitor on, and my ipod was stocked with 38 min of Disney rides (haha... yeah I know.) Well, the first problem was, once the buzzer sounded to start the race, I couldn't figure out how to start my timer on my monitor! What are the odds... it wasn't until halfway through the race when I finally got it going. I was pushing the wrong buttons I guess. My Disney rides kept me company (for all of you Disers out there, I had Maelstrom, KS (the song part of the ride), EEA (the opening), RoC (whole thing), and LwtL (whole thing) ). I'm thinking next time though, songs might be a better idea just because it'll give me a beat to run to, and I'll better be able to keep track of time.

I started off the run at a slow-ish, but steady pace. I ran and ran (ok, jogged and jogged). I saw my brother in law pass me (after the turn around), then Brenton. I yelled to Brenton "I've run this whole time!!"... and then it hits. My legs did NOT want to run anymore. Yes folks, I had to stop and walk... but only for 20ish seconds to catch my breath. Then I ran again... and yet again had to walk a little bit. All in all, I ran more than I ever had before. Unfortunately, I finished at 40:26... not 37:00... but really, last year at the END of the year, I ran in the 39's, so this being my 3rd race of the year, 40:26 isn't that bad. And it's REALLY good for me. Here's me running and waving to my sister (who's taking the picture) at the end of the race:



Boy was I glad to see that finish line!!!!! Oh the heart rate monitor thing- once I figured out how to start it, I kept an eye on my heart rate... 183 most of the time!!! YiKeS!!! That's part of the reason that I had to slow down and walk a little bit. Considering my MAX is 195... not good.

The next race is sometime at the end of this month- The World Famous Pig Run at the Jazz and Ribs festival downtown. That's a toughie!!! It's at 7pm, and it's always HOT and kinda hilly-ish. Last year at that one the heat gave me and my sister a cramp.

In the meantime, I'm going to try to keep working on my endurance. Any advice would be MUCH APPRECIATED!!

Have a good start of the week! Namaste.