It almost seems a little silly to still be catching up on races from months ago. But I only have two left, so I figure I’ll finish them out to make the blog feel complete.
(As I’ve said, I started this string of running events 7 weeks before I started the blog. That’s why we’re playing catch up.)
This run for books was New Year’s morning. Let me tell you, I ran the crap out of my legs!
At this point, I was thinking, “Oh I’m sort of a runner again.” Little did I know that trails are the worst ever, and they make running about a million times harder.
I went into the other races smarter, sometimes with general time goals – but always with the number one goal being not to get injured. I luckily didn’t get injured in this race, but I did push myself too hard. I was obsessed with getting a “good” 5k time (or at least good for me).
Alas, obstacles kept holding me back. There were hills, and we were running in the dirt. And it was SO windy – so very, very windy.
The beginning of the race was way downhill. Since so many people around me were going fast, I stupidly felt the need to keep up, so I started too quickly. Basically, what I’m saying is, I was a total mess. And I’d almost done the 10k instead! I’m so glad I only had to endure 3.1 miles of this.
The whole staff was incredibly friendly – probably one of the friendliest staffs yet. But the course just killed me… (Well, I kinda did it to myself.)
Of course in the final mile, there was a person behind me that I decided I just had to beat. She made some really great efforts. There were times when she busted out some nice running, but I was not gonna have it. If she ran, I ran! If she ran faster, I ran faster! She gave me a great workout for sure.
After the race I thanked her for pushing me to do better. She said she was doing her best to catch up to me, but she realized I was just not gonna have it that day. We had a nice little laugh about it.
This race wasn’t too long after the one in which I’d finished dead last. The people in front of me back then acted like I did today, not allowing me to pass them – no matter what happened. I guess sometimes you’re the pusher, and sometimes you’re the person who gets pushed.
Either way, you’re getting a better workout and interacting with other human beings. So, it’s fun in either spot.
(Of course even with the fast downhill beginning, and being pushed in mile 3, it still took me 47:19! Did I mention how windy it was? And how there was a lovely part where we were facing the wind – uphill?)
After the race I had a nice little 3 mile walk to the train station. Nothing like topping off a 3 mile race with a good ol’ 3 mile walk.