Day 37: I Did It!

I ran the race!

And it was so fun. I had not expected it to be fun. I had expected it to be gruelling and difficult, and it was neither of those things. The last two kilometres were definitely challenging, but that didn't slow me down, I just tucked in and used my mental strength to keep going. I was glad, however, that it was not 10 kilometres. I will have to pace myself differently for the next race. I kept telling myself good things rather than bad things. That helped a lot. So, I reminded myself that I could do this, that I knew how, and that it was possible. My time on the clock was 45 minutes flat, which was approximately what I was aiming for, though I think I could do better. Neighbours who were there said there were a few oddities about the race's organization--for example, we walked nearly 2km to get to the start line, and the start itself was very odd and disorganized and slow because we had to squeeze between a number of barriers, which created something like a bottle-neck of people, over and over again. So it's possible that the clock wasn't an entirely accurate reflection of the time.

My neighbours said they don't do it for the time. Part of me wished I could be like that. I was grateful to them for pacing me during the first kilometre, which allowed me to move ahead feeling very relaxed and warmed up.

I did find my competitive nature coming out during the race, but it didn't seem to emerge in a negative way. I just felt extremely light, extremely contained and focused. And joyful. Early on, we were running along a beautiful trail and we saw a deer standing in the trees only a few feet away. We all exclaimed. It was an unexpectedly moving moment. Most of the run, however, I was too focused on my pace to look around. I was glad that I ran the first kilometre slowly, and that I'd started at the very back of the pack. That way, as the run went on, I could speed up and pass people, which felt like a good mental boost. I was only passed once, toward the very end, and I actually caught back up and passed her at the finish.

It helped to be familiar with the distance, and to know that it was within me to complete.

I noticed many people ran with ipods, but I was glad I'd chosen not to, though I do find that music helps on my regular runs. But I was glad that I'd forced myself to focus without that--it was also easier to hear what was going on around me. I noticed that the ipod people often ran in the middle of the path without any idea that they were blocking others. I hope I wasn't too aggressive in my passing. I tried to be friendly and polite and not crowd anybody. I wonder whether there's etiquette--does one say, "Passing!" or something to that effect, in warning?

One other funny thing happened. I'd just passed a woman in the trail section, when she called out my name. She was someone I'd gone to high school with--in fact, I'm pretty sure we were on the cross country team together. We had a brief shouted conversation under the dark trees, as we hurried forward. She said she hadn't run since high school either.

Oh, and I did walk, but it was not because I felt I needed to. I had to walk because I was following people on the boardwalk section of the trail, and they were walking (and it was slippery); and I had to walk again on the steepest portion of the hill section because the people in front of me were walking, and there was no way to pass. I took that as a little gift, because the hill was tough, there's no doubt, and it probably helped get my wind back for the last two and a half kilometres.

The last kilometre was a challenge, but it felt entirely possible to complete, and I tried to keep up a very strong pace--my goal was to get faster as the run went on, and I'm fairly certain that I achieved it. I had the thought at one point during the last kilometre that I'd like to stop and walk, and then I imagined all of the people I'd passed coming up in a wave and passing me, and that kept me going--see, competitive nature, doing it's thing.

And there were my kids and husband waving near the finish line! That was awesome. I felt like I could run another kilometre after I saw them, easy.

Ahead: more training, more miles underfoot, and a 10km challenge next.