Stretch, Gabby, stretch! I totally regret not stretching afterwards! For the past two days, everything has hurt, including muscles I didn't know I had. I know part of it is from running up and down hills, but neglecting to stretch makes it all worse.
Before the race, I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to do it. During my first 5K, my twin sister ran with me and encouraged me the entire way. I didn't know if I could do it without someone pushing me along.
I was wrong. This was easier.
Physically, this was a tougher course because of the hills, but mentally, it was far easier. I knew that I'd done it before so I could do it again.
I created a fun playlist full of my favorite upbeat Christian songs and let my ipod be my motivator.
Right after the race started, we began running uphill, so five minutes into it, I was already huffing and puffing. Could I do it? Was I already so spent and drained of energy that I would have nothing left for the third mile?
Instead of worrying about the whole race, I just focused on the next part of the run, looking only at what was immediately ahead.
Everyone passed me up in those first few minutes, but I didn't let this discourage me. As I ran, I told my daughter that we were going to win the race. For me, winning is finishing the 5K without walking. That's all. I also wanted to beat my awful time from my first race, 45 minutes. But my main goal was to finish and win.
I thought I would be the last one crossing the finish line because I couldn't see anyone behind me. Later, as the route looped around itself, I could walkers. I thought all of the walkers were taking a 1 mile route, but evidently some opted for 3.1. So while there were a couple of girls in front of me, who were running at the same pace as me, there was no one behind me except walkers, and they were far behind me.
I noticed that I seemed to be on pace for about 13 minutes a mile, a vast improvement from the 15 minutes per mile that I ran in my first 5K.
Somewhere around the 2 mile point, about 26 minutes into my run, my daughter's balloon popped and tears were shed. She cried and pouted for several minutes, but eventually got over it. Maybe I'm heartless, but I didn't stop to comfort her. I just talked her through it and focused on finishing the run.
After about 35 minutes, I turned the last corner and headed into the home stretch. But it was all uphill. Again, I just focused on the next steps in front of me.
As soon as I started running and pushing the stroller up the steep hill, I felt it.
The it that runners talk about.
Runner's high.
I don't know how to describe it except that I felt a prickly sensation on my scalp and I was in another zone. The hill was nothing. I don't remember any physical strain in running it or in pushing my 4 year old up the hill in a stroller. But I remember looking up and seeing the sun in the sky, feeling a cool breeze, and watching the light glistening on the lake below as I ran up that bridge.
And in my ipod, I heard this:
And I sang. No one was around anyway, so I sang. And I worshiped. And it was amazing.
At the top of the hill, I could see the very last portion of the race where my husband and our boys were waiting. I ran through the finish line, which wasn't much to speak of, and congratulated myself on beating my old time. 42 minutes. Still a terrible 5K time, but an improvement for me. And my daughter says I won. She's right. Every time I run, I win. It's good for my heart, it's good for my body, and it's good for my family.
In fact, the night before my second 5K, I signed up for a third. I'm ready to win again.
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