But yesterday was the big Race Day I had been planning for! The 34th Annual St. Patty's Day 5k! I've been training for the last few weeks, anticipating that my ironman-in-training of a husband would run with me. The plan was that he would help me pace myself when I needed slowing down and push me when I needed speeding up. Why isn't he in this picture, you ask? The Flu. Both kinds! The cold flu and stomach flu attacked him like it was D-day. He was such a trooper, too. He got up bright and early with me on Saturday morning and even drove out to the race and planned to run. But The Flu had other plans and he had to leave me with Jake (his cousin and also an ironman-in-training), Lissa, and Dana.
I was quite nervous about running by myself. Even though I had my friends with me, we weren't exactly planning to run together. The plan was just to run at your own pace. So, when the cannon fired, and we started running, trying to find our own little spot in the midst of thousands of runners (literally! There were 11,134 runners!), we pretty much lost each other. The run seemed to last forever. There were no mile markers and no watches or clocks anywhere. So, 1) I had no idea how much time had passed, and 2) I had no idea how far I was running. I had a hard time keeping myself motivated to run the entire time, and I had to stop to walk a few times. But they were just quick little walks where I stretched out my shoulder cramp a bit or caught my breath and then I'd start back up.
The picture above is of the four of us at the finish line! We all finished in one piece!! And earlier today, I finally found the results posted online . . .
My time was 31:37!
I am so excited! Originally, I thought I'd run it in about 35 minutes. Yesterday after the race, I estimated that it took me about 32-ish minutes. So, I'm thrilled that I beat both my estimations!
Tomorrow I begin training for my next 5k on April 16th. Keep your fingers crossed. I'm adding some stuff into my training to try to increase my speed. And maybe, just maybe, I can beat 30 minutes one day.
5 comments:
INCREDIBLE TIME!!!!! You beat my 32:47 so it is ON like DONKEY KONG!! A virtual competition :) Great work, Momma! -Heather
Great job! I find speed to be hard to work on... What will you do? Intervals?
Congratulations Tiffany! That's so amazing :)
I think I would have lost focus and wandered off somewhere by myself if there hadn't been any mile markers...
Thanks, girls!
@carmelchica, Yes, intervals. I'll be running one short run (1 to 2 miles), one interval day, another short run and then a long run (3 to 5 miles) each week.
That's so so great!! I'm running another one in May for breast cancer awareness. I'd love that time. So fabulous!
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