Thursday, July 29, 2010

The Race Is On

Last week, I ran seven miles - SEVEN MILES! I just kept going and going....in 74 minutes I ran my hilly circuit seven times, followed by a half-mile walk. It was hard at the end, but I've never run that far before! Then the blisters set in...

I knew I needed to invest some money into this running thing if I was going to continue. My seven-mile run was proof: I got blisters on both feet, one which was about an inch in diameter. I couldn't put much weight on it, I had to wear flip-flops for a couple days, and I was worried about the 5k on Saturday. Thankfully they cleared up enough by then that I could run just fine, but it lit the fire under me to start shopping for proper running attire!

Wow, are shoes expensive! Real running shoes are heinously ugly and run $100-$150. I opted to just get some shorts and socks last week, but they really made a difference! No blisters, no chaffing - horray!

Saturday was my first race: I ran the 5k in 26:37, which isn't record-breaking by any means but not bad for me! It was hillier than I expected, so I guess running my hills at home was a good thing. It was also good for me to learn how to pace in a race: my tendency is to run too fast at first and poop out at the end. This time, I kind of did that but overcompensated in the middle so that I had TOO much energy left at the end. I wasn't completely sure of the route, and they only posted the 1-mile mark, so I was trying to reserve energy when I was unknowingly nearing the end of the race. So all-in-all it was a great experience, and I can't wait to do it again!

Here are my official results: Finished 65th of 205 total runners. Finished 16th of 110 female runners. Finished 4th of 23 female runners in their 20's. There were some MAJOR serious runners here, which was I wasn't expecting.The winner finished over a minute before everyone else at around 16 minutes!

Now I just have to hope this weather breaks (temps in the 90's, heat index in the 100's!) so I can get back outside and keep trucking toward my goal of the half-marathon. And hope that I don't gain major weight on vacation next week!

In other news, Brady totally schooled all the other one-year-olds in his race :) We have a fast little bugger on our hands!!

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