I Am A Runner

I know I posted at least once about The Great Glow Run 5K I was running this weekend.... But I'm pretty sure that was all I posted about it.... So I'm going to write a little bit more about it now, as well as my experiences with running in general!

The Great Glow Run 5K was held in my little corner of the world yesterday and it was so much fun! Seriously, there are so many reasons that I had a blast at this 5K.

1. It was at night! Seriously, who really enjoys getting up at 5am to go running? I'll do it, but I prefer evening runs.

2. I knew several people who were running/walking this particular 5K.

3. There were over 1,000 registered participants which is awesome for this area.

and 4. I'm a huge kid at heart so getting to run with a bunch of other people wearing GLOW STICKS was basically amazing. Come on now, who doesn't love glow sticks!?

 

I just started running a little under a year ago. And when I started running I could barely make it a mile. I could barely make it a mile in under ten minutes. I kept thinking to myself

 

"This running thing is hard... Why the heck am I putting myself through this?!?!"

 

 But then I would remember all of my friends who were posting about their runs online and me thinking

 

"Hey, I could do that, too!"

 

and my motivation was instantly back.

 

It wasn't easy. It really wasn't easy at all. I have never been a strong runner. Not back in middle school, and definitely not in high school. This girl was an Irish dancer. A nationally ranked, 47th place, Championship Irish dancer. And I could not run a mile to save my life.

 

Well, okay, maybe I could have run a mile. But I didn't want to. I hated running. It was boring and seemed pointless to me at the time.

 

But I'm not so involved in the Irish dance world anymore (it's unfortunate, but true) and I needed something to get me back into shape. So, one evening, I put on my sneakers and I went for a run. It was just one mile, and I figured I could do it and still be alive at the end.

 

By the end of it, I was still alive. Barely. I don't think I have ever felt so out-of-shape in my entire life. It was absolutely awful. I couldn't breathe, my legs were in huge amounts of pain, my feet were screaming at me and I felt like I could have just crawled into a hole and died.

 

The next day, though, I decided to do it again. And, thinking to myself,

 

"What in the world are you doing?!?!?!"

 

I tied my shoes and headed out the door.

 

And on that second run, I realized a few things. I realized that this was going to be really good for me. I realized that going for a ten minute run gave me time to clear my head. I realized that I wanted to keep running. I realized that I could keep running.

 

Ever since, I've been hooked.

 

Now, I haven't been the dedicated runner that some of my friends are, but I do get out there and run. And it's great! I love going for a run and knowing I'm doing something good for myself.

 

That's what's key in this. I'm running for myself. I'm not running because someone else told me to. I'm not running because it's part of my job. I'm not running for KBug, for family or for friends.

 

I'm running for me!

 

 

 

And that is huge for me. I spend a lot of time doing everything for everyone else. But this is for me and it feels so good!

 

So I spent most of the summer in Arizona last year, where it was way too hot to even consider running outside. But I kept it up (somewhat) by hopping on the elliptical at the YMCA every day I was there. I got to the point where I was clocking a 5K on the elliptical in less than 30 minutes at a level 10. It felt fantastic!

 

But then I came home. And hopping on the elliptical at the gym was not easy to do. So I was back to running outside.

 

Yea, my first run about killed me again for a few reasons.

 

1. I hadn't run outside in over two months.

2. I was not used to the humidity at all after being in the dry heat of NV and AZ all summer.

3. Running on the ground has a massively different impact on your legs and feet than an elliptical.

 

Lesson learned. Never go on a vacation to places you can't run for the entire summer. It kills your endurance and your feet are not ready to go when your head is upon arriving home.

 

Even though that first run back home was awful, though, I kept at it.

 

Slowly, but surely, I increased my speed and I increased my distance. I was asked to be an assistant coach for a running program we started at our school, too, which was awesome! Seriously, if you haven't heard of Girls on the Run and/or STRIDE (the boys running program), you should check them out! We had a blast running these programs at our school, and ran the Girls on Track program at our school, too, for our middle school girls! It was awesome.

 

Well, at the end of the GotR 12-week program, there's a 5K that every participant runs. So, before I even started coaching this program, I knew I was going to be running a 5K. I spent a fair amount of time freaking out, thinking

 

"There is no way I can run 3.1 miles....."

 

But then I just decided that I could. And I said that I would. After all, I didn't have a choice in the matter, and I had already agreed to be a "running buddy" for one of our participating students. I was stuck.

 

So training began. It went pretty well, but I wasn't quite to the point where I felt ready to run a full 3 miles when the coach texts me and tells me we are running a mock 5K with our students that afternoon. Guess I was going to run that 3 miles, ready or not!

 

We ran the 3 miles (I walked some of it) and I finished in under 36 minutes. That was my goal. I figured averaging a 12-minute/mile pace for my first ever 3 mile run was pretty decent. Was it great? No. But I was happy with it. Mostly because I finished.

 

Then Thanksgiving was coming up and the Turkey Trot 5K was coming up. And my running friends just told me to go for it. I figured that if they thought I could do it, then I could probably do it. So I signed up. I got excited for it.

 

I ran it! And not only did I run it, I beat my original 5K time by a minute and a half! I felt awesome!

 

A week and a half later was the 5K for GotR/GoT/Stride. And I have to be the most unlucky individual on the face of the earth because two days before this 5K I end up sick. And it's not like a sniffle here and there. It was a hacking cough, chest congestion, no voice, sick. Talk about awful.

 

But I had promised that I would run this race and I didn't have much choice because the students were required to have a running buddy.

 

Of course, though, that was the day my running buddy decided she wanted to run 3 miles in less than 30 minutes. There was no way I was going to be able to make that in the condition I was in. It just wasn't happening.

 

So I switched buddies with her mom and ended up running with her sister and another girl. Neither of these girls were strong runners, which worked out for me, because I really wasn't. But they wanted to get through this race. So we set a goal to finish before 36 minutes. And, with some walking in there, we made it! We finished at 34:50! Way to go us!

 

And that was the last 5K I ran. Until now.

 

I hadn't even run more than 2 consecutive miles since my last 5K before the one I ran yesterday. Crazy, right? Eh, maybe. But hey, it could have been worse. I could have not been running at all!

 

So I'm signed up for this 5K, having problems with my right foot 5 days before race day (I broke my foot when I was 12 and that same spot had been really bothering me when I run), but incredibly excited!

 

I was pretty certain that the reason I was having problems with my foot was because I didn't have enough support in my shoes. So I went to Wal-Mart and stood on the Dr. School's machine and it basically told me that I have insanely high arches and prescribed me a set of orthotics to slide into my shoes based on the mapping it did of my feet. Yay!

 

Saturday rolls around and it's race day. And I am SO ready! I've got my glow bracelets and glow necklaces ready to go and I'm feeling good. I put my new orthotics into my shoes, laced them up and felt awesome. I got to race check-in and I'm feeling overwhelmingly excited. I got to the start line and I'm feeling nervous as all heck!

 

But then it started and it was GO TIME! I started towards the back of the 1,000 people herd and made my way to somewhere in the middle. And once we were out in the road instead of bottle-necked at the start line, it was a lot easier to move and pick up speed.

 

I made it through the first mile and a half easily. My breathing was good, my feet were good, I was happy. But then my allergies hit. Stupid allergies. Didn't they know I was in the middle of a race?? Seriously.

 

So I had to stop and walk a bit during that last .5 miles of mile 2 (about .25 miles walking). But when I hit the 2 mile mark I was bound and determined to finish the last mile without stopping. I had to do it because I had to know that I could finish only having walked .25 miles of a 3.1 mile race. I'm a very determined person. Once I decide to do something, I do it. So I did. I ran.

 

I had hoped to finish this 5K in less that 31 minutes. That was my goal. But I hadn't anticipated the allergies. However, even with my allergies, I finished at around 31:45! (I didn't stick around to find the official time postings and I haven't received them in an email yet, so I'm basing it off of what my RunMeter App logged.)

 

I think that's pretty good for not having run a full 3 miles since December and having crazy allergies!

 

When I finished the race, I found KBug and GMa and PJP. And then I started sneezing. The sneezing lasted a good ten minutes. I just couldn't stop. Every time I thought I was done, I would turn around and it would start all over again. It was pretty awful.

 

But, sneezing aside, I was very satisfied with my experience in the Great Glow Run.

 

I think the only other thing I didn't like was the fact that people were losing Glow Sticks all over the road and I kept thinking I was going to step on one and fall flat on my face. It was kind of dangerous navigating the roads with those things scattered everywhere!

 

Now I'm planning to train for a 10K. And I'm planning to start PJP running this week, training for a 5K. He's not thrilled, but he has to do it to satisfy his P.E. requirement for high school.

 

I'm also going to start KBug training for a 5K. When we made New Years Resolutions this year, she said that the one thing she wanted to do the most this year was learn how to run a 5K. So I'm going to help her do that!

 

 

KBug and PJP are both going to run a 5K with me in May. And I'm hoping to find a 10K to run in June so I can train for a half-marathon over the summer and run that in October!

 

Looks like I've got my work cut out for me this year.

 

But I believe in myself. And I believe that anything is possible, and I know that I can achieve anything I set my mind to.

 

Forget glass slippers... Give me a running shoe any day!

 

 

And she's off!