The night before was the celebration of my grandmothers 81st
birthday, if you know my family then you know that when it comes to celebrating
– we love to celebrate! We also love
tequila ;) As luck would have it there was no tequila and no staying up till morning. This momma had to go home and get to bed, get
some rest and wake up at 5am (on a SUNDAY!!) So I said my goodbyes and my
family wished me luck! I got home with my little Hailey Bear and I collected my
things for the next day making sure I wouldn't wake to whole house getting
ready. I got into bed and knew from the start that sleep was not coming easy,
so I got out my handy dandy IPad and started reading Runners World Magazine
(what else what I be reading the night before a run??) by this time it was
11:30pm and sleep seemed to be hours away. Then I came across a good bit of
advice –
Don’t sweat a sleepless night.
Fretting
over not catching enough Z’s is what hurts your confidence- and your race – not
the lack of sleep itself.
Maybe it’s
just what I needed to hear, maybe who should argue with the experts – who knows
but just like that lights were off and so was I, not only did I fall asleep, I
stayed asleep.
The next morning I got up at 5am, made my way to the kitchen and drank water (hydration, hydration), I went around in the dark and got ready and then I kissed my hubby good bye! He said “good luck & I’m nervous for you” LOL! Nerves what nerves?? Then I stepped outside and the greatest thing in the world had happen overnight… it got freaking cold!
We met up
inside a pavilion at the Sam Houston Race Track, thank goodness because it
chilly outside! While we waited for things to get started we made sure we got a
picture together all dolled up and with our costumes before we got all sweaty
and our hair got all crazy! Cindy was cool, and got us masks to tie everything
together! Don’t we look good ;) Also another friend of mine was there! I was
excited to see her there –I had an idea that she had been running too and she
always told me that she wanted to run 5K, turns out that she was there to run
the 10K! AWESOME!
Soon enough
we got the “go ahead” to get to the start line, again Cindy made a bee line for
the front! Crazy girl, anyway we stood there shivering cold, everyone around us
was reassuring someone that it would feel better once we started running- of course it will! We could not hear
what the announcer was saying very clearly so we never did hear them say GO! It was more like everyone started
going and so we started running! Right
away people started to pass me up – every ounce in you wants to speed up and
not get left behind – but you have to know better than that, last thing I
wanted to do is to burn up all my energy. So I checked my watch and paced
myself - MY RACE MY PACE! – is what I kept telling myself. We ran the track one
full time and then about ¾ of the way the second time, the track was sand and I couldn't help wondering if this was what it would feel like if I run at the
beach?? (I think I see a beach 5K in my future!!) After the second time around they lead us out to the main road that
runs the outer perimeter to the Sam Houston Race Track.
 |
| All pretty and ready to go!! |
Mostly the
first three miles were nice and easy I kept slowing myself down over and over
still afraid I’d burn myself out, oh! And be careful what you pray for! Most
running days I am praying for three things – NO SUN, NO HEAT and when possible
a little RAIN. Hummm.. it was nice and cold, no sun AND it started raining… HA!
Take that you incredible woman! The whole time I am thinking – I got this, see
all these people running with me! I got this – and then the 5K runners turned
and left me.all.alone. I almost laughed out loud! I could see a few in front of
me, so I just decided to catch up, after all I could see them before so if a
catch up to them, then I could just pace myself with them and NOT BE ALONE!
This plan worked for a little while because as runners do, once someone has
“caught up” then some might simply run faster! Nice. Was I the last one? Either way I did not get too far behind
them actually I checked my pace, evaluated how I felt and knew there was still
energy there. I did not feel like I was dragging I felt really strong so I did
keep my pace just a few feet behind them.
After mile 5
I really knew I had the energy I
needed to make it to the end I picked up my pace (and so did the ones in front of me) by the time we were directed
to head back into the Sam Houston Race Track parking lot I felt really good, I
picked up pace some more. In the end it was my fastest mile I’ve ever run
11:08!! I picked it up in the last stretch and so did my fellow runners, I wish I could say I passed them all up
leaving them to eat my dust!! HA! No that did not happen I did pass one runner
and finished within just steps of the others – BUT I know one thing – I
finished! As I came across that finish
line I saw two things – Cindy cheering me on! And the time clock as it rolled
over from 1:13 to 1:14 giving me a clock time of 1:14:08 and a chip time of
1:13:57!!
Quickly they
starting to post results and we found out that Cindy and Alma were in the top
10 in their age brackets! AWESOME!! I could not be more proud of them; this
journey would never be same without them. Most days I run alone in my
neighborhood on my own time at my own pace, but I’m not really alone… Cindy and
Alma are there running too somewhere working hard just like me. When we get
together we get to encourage and inspire each other and that is an amazing
feeling. I know that my courage to do this would not be as strong if I was
flying solo, SO at the end of the race I’m glad I have them there to embrace :)
Who could ask for anything more? Well other than a faster pace…LOL! Just
kidding!
Lap 1 - 12:35
Lap 2 - 12:41
Lap 3 - 12:09
Lap 4 - 12:00
Lap 5 - 11:42
Lap 6 - 11:08
Lap 7 - 09:56
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