and

Thursday, it was 102 degrees when I got out of work according to my car thermostat.  I waiting a few hours until it went down to 95 and headed to the Corning Preserve.

No, I didn’t run the course.  I went for a bike ride. For the first time on this trail, I didn’t see any runners!!  Pretty obvious why. I am glad I decided not to run.

 

My bike ride was rather pleasant.  It was hot but there was a nice breeze off the river.  I haven’t ridden my bike since I started running again.  I actually miss it.

Back to the race.

I got up early and truthfully did not feel well – head achy & nauseous. But I ate my usual race breakfast and headed to the race because I wanted to be sure to get a parking spot. There was no problem but who knew since I had never done this race before.  It turned out to be a small race of a little over 100 runners.  It was the first race that I’ve gone to in a long time where I did not know anyone.  If I were healthier, I would have been running the Valley Cats Home Run 5k (that I have done twice before) and I would have bumped into friends there.

Anyway, I walked around to warm up – there were two area with public restrooms.

As I waited, it was getting hotter and I was feeling not too great but anxious to RACE!!

Finally we approached the starting line.  This race was only gun timed but I didn’t really care to start too close to the front.

As soon as I started running, I knew this wouldn’t be a great race.  My legs felt heavy and my calves sore. It was hot and no shade at all (we turned halfway before the bike path gets shady.)

I struggled…I walked at the water stop at 3/4 mile and then again at the 1.5 mile turn around.  It got harder and harder and I walked more and more – I think at least 4 more times.

I have never walked this much during a race – in fact at the FRW a few weeks ago, I only walked 2x briefly…maybe it was the heat or I ran the 1st mile faster than I should have at this point in my injury. I also have not been running a lot yet.  Another problem with a small race was that after the first mile, I was running  alone.  The fast runners were way ahead and the slow ones way behind.  I think running with others would have motivated me not to walk (just saying.)

Anyway, I finished the last .1 mile strong – the clock registered at 32:50  (and I didn’t puke though I thought I would.)

Once I recovered with some water and ice cream (yes, they had a truck).  I was very happy with my time.  It was almost 3 minutes faster than the FRW on June 2.

Goals for this race:

• run most of it – sorta (too much walking in my opinion)
• finish faster than the FRW (35:39) – YES!!!
• enjoy it – kinda (but did not feel great)

So what’s next?

 I know that  I have to walk less and that means getting in better running shape.  The 27 minutes 5k finish times may never come back but I do not want to feel miserable throughout a 5k race. I also want to be able to run longer distances.

Patience!!

Happy Running! Any races this past weekend?