My first race!!!! Where to begin. . . Well, all day yesterday I worried that I was going to hurt myself if I ran the race today since I wasn't thinking and ran 3 miles that morning. I called my brother, Heber, and he recommended that I massage my legs to help them recovery quicker; and if I still didn't feel good, that it wasn't a bad cause to simply donate the $20 registration fee to (hee, hee). Actually, I had already thought of that; and this morning when I woke up and my legs felt a little sore, I thought about it again. But, I didn't think that I was feeling sore enough to really skip my very first race. So, I got ready and headed out the door. It was a 5K run or a 3K walk for the Pikes Peak Region Peace Officers Memorial. The weather, though chilly in the low 50's while waiting around, was great for running and there was no breeze. It was a flatter course than I've ever run in my practice runs, so that was very helpful! I didn't take my Garmin, so I wouldn't be distracted by how much farther I had to go. This was good for that reason, but also bad because I'm not really sure what my correct finishing time was! When I came in, I saw the clock say 36:37, but on the unofficial report, I came in at 35:55. I'd love to claim the faster time, but I think the 36 is more accurate. And even at 36:37, it's over 4 minutes faster than any of my practice runs. My knee only hurt for about 15 seconds a little after the first mile, and then it didn't bother me at all! My hips felt great too! And I cranked up my iPod, so I didn't even pay attention to my heavy breathing (which was quite distracting, actually, when I could hear it in between each song - ha!) I was able to run almost the entire time, which was amazing for me!!! I only walked about 4 times, and only for a short distance. I don't know my splits since I didn't have my watch, but I felt great the whole time! I told my husband that he did such a great job massaging my legs, that he saved me from a potentially horrible race!!! Plus, he might be stuck doing it next time!!! ;o) The best part of raccing was the distraction of having other runners around me and coming in at the finish line to a smiling husband and my 3 girls!!! Overall, I am very happy with my first race. I was able to run without hurting, enjoy the moment, and come in at a time that I was secretly hoping for (anything around 36 mnutes was my hope, but I would've been content with anything faster than 40:00 which is what I was doing in my practice runs). Yeah!!!! | 