I am not running savvy by any means. I would say I am self taught with some help from Scott, Runners world magazine, and the Internet. So I mean I know the basics but that is about it. But let me just share with you what I do know about running.
1. It is HARD. It is not meant to be easy, and anyone who says it is is lying.
2.Best time to run in the summer time is early in the morning. And I mean like 6:30 AM. Otherwise you are going to die of heat stroke by the 4th mile.
3. Running is 55% mental. Which means if my mind thinks I can do it my body will too.
4. Shoes that fit your foot are very very important. Running is hard on your body and if you don't fork out the extra dough for the nice shoes you are not going to be running for very long. Trust me. I can already tell you horror stories.
5.WATER, WATER, WATER!
6. If you don't stretch before and after you might as well forget brushing your teeth and bathing too. Yeah it's that important!
Alright well these are just some simple rules that I have learned on my journey. So this being my first 10k I was excited and felt pretty ready. I had moved about 3 weeks prior so I had to find a new running spot. The one I found has lots of hills and it's just this cute little paved path that is like 5 miles long. I was excited to start running on it because I haven't ever really run on hills before so I felt like I was training really well. AND when I found out that my 10k had some hills I felt up to the challenge. haha little did I know what "some hills" meant. This is just one of my fun little adventures. But lets just start right at the beginning shall we?
FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2009 5:30pm
1. It is HARD. It is not meant to be easy, and anyone who says it is is lying.
2.Best time to run in the summer time is early in the morning. And I mean like 6:30 AM. Otherwise you are going to die of heat stroke by the 4th mile.
3. Running is 55% mental. Which means if my mind thinks I can do it my body will too.
4. Shoes that fit your foot are very very important. Running is hard on your body and if you don't fork out the extra dough for the nice shoes you are not going to be running for very long. Trust me. I can already tell you horror stories.
5.WATER, WATER, WATER!
6. If you don't stretch before and after you might as well forget brushing your teeth and bathing too. Yeah it's that important!
Alright well these are just some simple rules that I have learned on my journey. So this being my first 10k I was excited and felt pretty ready. I had moved about 3 weeks prior so I had to find a new running spot. The one I found has lots of hills and it's just this cute little paved path that is like 5 miles long. I was excited to start running on it because I haven't ever really run on hills before so I felt like I was training really well. AND when I found out that my 10k had some hills I felt up to the challenge. haha little did I know what "some hills" meant. This is just one of my fun little adventures. But lets just start right at the beginning shall we?
FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2009 5:30pm
Erika and I go to register at the Hilton in downtown SLC. Registration was from 5-8pm and you could only register that night. That was a very dumb idea because 1300 women signed up to run this event and it took us from 5:30-7:30 to get through that line, and we were at the beginning! It was a mess. And to top it off they only had small, medium and large shirts but they were not those sizes. I got my mom and I larges and apparently the sweat shop in China where the shirts were made did not know what boobs were. Because that was the smallest large I have ever seen. Well we go eat out pasta and get all the yummy carbs in and then my mom and I go back to my apartment to get some sleep. I think I went to bed at like 10 and had to yell at my mom to turn off the TV and go to bed.
SATURDAY AUGUST 22, 2009 6:00am
Alright here's another thing that I don't understand about this race. It started at 8AM! Who in their right mind starts a race at 8 in the morning in the SUMMERTIME!? To add to the time it was one of the hottest days of the summer so I was already prepared to sweat until I passed out. I don't know whose idea that was... but I was not soo happy about it. So we get there. And I tell my mom that we should run up to the starting line to get a good warm up. She had these little shorty shorts on and apparently had never worn them before because as soon as she started running they started crawling. She then spent the entire race pulling down her shorty shorts to avoid chaffing. Lesson learned is that you should always test out your clothes before the day of the race. Not all clothes are made for running. So the race starts and I instantly feel a little bit uncomfortable with the course. It was already uphill and so I was just playing the mental game of getting up the hill and then everything would be fine. So I'm running... get up the first hill, turn the corner and a bigger hill awaits me. So I keep on running thinking just make it to the end of this road then you will be fine. Turn the corner pass mile marker 1 and up another hill we go. At this point I decided that I can either walk a bit and make it to the finish line, or push hard and pass out when I get up these hills. I opt for the first idea, and do intervals of fast walking and running. Although it was not ideal for me to walk I decided finishing was more important.... See ya later pride! ....So we keep running uphill past mile 2 and I am parched by this point and ready to drink a gallon of water. Then the heavens opened up and at mile 3 I see a water stop in sight. Someone was teasing me and playing a mean joke because when I grabbed the cup I think there was like one swallow at the bottom. Alright the good news was that for the most part the rest was downhill. I knew I had some making up to do so I kicked it into gear and started the second half of the race. My body is trying to throw everything it can at me to get me to stop and I am just trying to ignore it. So it pulls out the big guns and I get the most horrible side stitch of my life. But I lost a little bit of time on those hills so I am not really in the mood for a side stitch. So I push through it. The pain gets worse and I feel like I am going to puke.. but I know that I don't have anything in my stomach so I keep on running. Just before mile 4 I started dry heaving just a bit. (Yeah I know that is gross but I can't think of a nicer way to put it) Luckily it wasn't too bad, and I kept on running. Somewhere around mile 5 there was another water station. I grabbed two cups this time and ran up a HUGE hill around the corner and then down another hill to the finish line. Erika met me at the finish line and ran the last 20 yards with me. It was hard to stop. My legs were still going and I had to pace around for a minute. Also as soon as I cooled down I started peeing my pants so I had to run to the porter potty real quick. Don't worry... I caught it before it got out of hand.. thank goodness! All I wanted was lots and lots of water, but I guess they ran out because all of the 5k people finished before us and took everything. Maybe this wasn't organized soo well huh? So I grabbed a vitamin water and a bagel and stretched and then we went home. All in all it was a good race. There are a lot of things I wish were done differently but it's okay. My foot is a little sore for some reason. It feels just like a big charlie horse when I try and walk on it. I am hoping it will go away soon because I have 8 weeks until Kansas city!
Alright here's another thing that I don't understand about this race. It started at 8AM! Who in their right mind starts a race at 8 in the morning in the SUMMERTIME!? To add to the time it was one of the hottest days of the summer so I was already prepared to sweat until I passed out. I don't know whose idea that was... but I was not soo happy about it. So we get there. And I tell my mom that we should run up to the starting line to get a good warm up. She had these little shorty shorts on and apparently had never worn them before because as soon as she started running they started crawling. She then spent the entire race pulling down her shorty shorts to avoid chaffing. Lesson learned is that you should always test out your clothes before the day of the race. Not all clothes are made for running. So the race starts and I instantly feel a little bit uncomfortable with the course. It was already uphill and so I was just playing the mental game of getting up the hill and then everything would be fine. So I'm running... get up the first hill, turn the corner and a bigger hill awaits me. So I keep on running thinking just make it to the end of this road then you will be fine. Turn the corner pass mile marker 1 and up another hill we go. At this point I decided that I can either walk a bit and make it to the finish line, or push hard and pass out when I get up these hills. I opt for the first idea, and do intervals of fast walking and running. Although it was not ideal for me to walk I decided finishing was more important.... See ya later pride! ....So we keep running uphill past mile 2 and I am parched by this point and ready to drink a gallon of water. Then the heavens opened up and at mile 3 I see a water stop in sight. Someone was teasing me and playing a mean joke because when I grabbed the cup I think there was like one swallow at the bottom. Alright the good news was that for the most part the rest was downhill. I knew I had some making up to do so I kicked it into gear and started the second half of the race. My body is trying to throw everything it can at me to get me to stop and I am just trying to ignore it. So it pulls out the big guns and I get the most horrible side stitch of my life. But I lost a little bit of time on those hills so I am not really in the mood for a side stitch. So I push through it. The pain gets worse and I feel like I am going to puke.. but I know that I don't have anything in my stomach so I keep on running. Just before mile 4 I started dry heaving just a bit. (Yeah I know that is gross but I can't think of a nicer way to put it) Luckily it wasn't too bad, and I kept on running. Somewhere around mile 5 there was another water station. I grabbed two cups this time and ran up a HUGE hill around the corner and then down another hill to the finish line. Erika met me at the finish line and ran the last 20 yards with me. It was hard to stop. My legs were still going and I had to pace around for a minute. Also as soon as I cooled down I started peeing my pants so I had to run to the porter potty real quick. Don't worry... I caught it before it got out of hand.. thank goodness! All I wanted was lots and lots of water, but I guess they ran out because all of the 5k people finished before us and took everything. Maybe this wasn't organized soo well huh? So I grabbed a vitamin water and a bagel and stretched and then we went home. All in all it was a good race. There are a lot of things I wish were done differently but it's okay. My foot is a little sore for some reason. It feels just like a big charlie horse when I try and walk on it. I am hoping it will go away soon because I have 8 weeks until Kansas city!
you are TOO COOL! just think, you ran a 10k (incredibly cool in and of itself) with a bunch of uphill.....that's the equivalent of running a lot farther on a flat course. get better shoes. 7 weeks to KC, better keep running!
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