Race day!

OK, so before I go into details about the "big day" I should update my neglected readership on what transpired during the smaller ones:

Monday: Pretty sure I ran something in the 2.5-3 mile range. Followed by epically pigging out at an alumni gathering for a high school I didn't attend. So whatever effort I put forth was somewhat negated.

Tuesday: Didn't run at all, for no good reason.

Wednesday: I woke up at 7am, intent on whipping my ass into gear and getting it ON. And get it on I did -- I ran 4.5 miles, 4 at the usual pace, .5 a bit slower. I was really, really proud of myself and energized all day.

Thursday: Pretty sure I didn't run, again for no reason. It was snowing outside, which heavily impacted my decision, I think, even though I run inside. Also pretty sure I made great use of the time freed up by inactivity to cancel my gym membership, thus forcing myself to use only the crappy college gym for 2 months. Also pretty sure the demotivating factors of tolerating snow, exhaustion, overeating and otherwise, plus a slight indication that my partner in this operation, my cousin, might bail on the race on Saturday, convinced me (which wasn't, unfortunately, even close to a hard sell) to decide I wouldn't run the race on Sunday. Moving on!

Friday: Per the advice of an actual serious runner-friend, I ran only 2 miles in prep for the bigger challenge of the race on Saturday. This shorter run conserved energy, and afforded me more time to fart around purposelessly that night -- it took me til 11pm to get up enough motivation to run. When I got to the gym Shortish Shorts Man was hogging the only treadmill that both turns on and doesn't make horrible squeaky noises... so he was serenaded by my plodding along, squeakily, behind him.

Saturday: Gladly took advantage of having a pass on working out. Had (or tried to have, but was pretty much unsuccessful) business in Greenpoint, Brooklyn for a couple of hours. Then I thought I should make sure I was equipped for my Big Run the following day, so I stopped by Old Navy to purchase some supplies in the form of cheap athletic wear capable of withstanding the bitter cold into which I'd finally decided to plunge myself. This was in the form of a shirt with thumb holes I thought were cool and practical. Armed with this valuable tool, I was now ready, wardrobe-wise, at least, to take on the challenges of the cold which awaited me the next morning.

Though I planned to go to bed early, I of course didn't. Not even close. I know one is advised to eat pasta the night before a run to load up on carbs, but I hate pasta, so I didn't. I opted to make tons and tons of popcorn instead, and eat the "Blueberry Muffin" flavored Frosted Mini Wheats I bought for $2 on my way home from the day's events. Which was kind of like pasta. And, according to the Internet, actually also a source of whole grains.

But anyway, moving on...

This morning was the culmination of 3 weeks' worth of half-assed effort and spotty training: I ran my first-ever 5K race! I took a train at an ungodly hour of the morning out to Long Island and, after some initial confusion, found where the race was being held. It was cute, there were big inflatable balloon animals hangin' around, music was playing, people were bustling and ready to run.

It was also very, very cold. But sunny, so not unpleasant. I wore gloves, my new shirt, leggings, 2 pairs of socky, and a dorky hat I borrowed from my cousin, which clashed horribly with my even dorkier 6 year-old fleece, onto which I pinned my number (1372 wooo!). I also put one of those tracking things on my shoelaces so I could get my results later.

We farted around until it was time to run. Before the run I was wondering how we'd all line up so we weren't getting in each others' way if we were all pursuing different paces, etc. I thought we just stood there in a blob and someone told us to go and that was that. I was pleasantly surprised to see that things are better organized than that -- the runners grouped up according to their anticipated pace. Since we didn't want to be the losers at the back of the line in the "10+ minutes/mile" group, we stood with the 9 minute/mile group. I played it cool, but I was secretly afraid that was entirely too fast for my current ability level.

Well, turns out I had nothing to fear! My iPod shuffle played really good songs (I only had to skip 1 bad/boring one) so I was motivated. I started out feeling not at all tired, exhilirated, energized and propelled forward by the cold, and impervious to any bad feelings. Then I hit the first mile marker and was vaguely disappointed: it said 9:40. My first thought was, Nope. That's not good enough. (Even though it was about 4 seconds slower than my intended pace.)

So I decided I'd up the ante for mile 2. Additionally, my competitive spirit was stirred by having other runners around. Every time I saw someone slightly close to me, I wanted to pass them. I wanted to breeze on by them and be the better runner, the "winner", even though I knew there was no realistic chance I'd come close to winning at all. In the moments I was looking at them, it was me vs. Orange Sweatshirt (who beat me in the end, sadly), or me vs. Tall Guy, or me vs. Skinny Pre-Pubescent Boy. There were a ton of characters -- I think 600 something people ran the race! Having all these people around really did motivate me to push myself, though, so much so that I reached the mile 2 marker at 18:05 (or something slightly above 18:00).

After I thought to myself, Yes, good, really fast, reality sunk in: I was dead tired and extremely out of breath. My head was also getting hot under my hat. I decided to just suck it up and ignore the obvious physical signs I should slow down or possibly even stop, and instead ensure I stayed on the tail of Blue Shirt, a fellow runner whom I'd passed earlier in the race who was now running slightly faster than me. Huffing and puffing (conspicuously enough that people turned slightly to look if I ran by them), I hurtled onward. The course was plotted over the network of roads in Jones Beach State Park, so we were running on what would have been parkways and such. The terrain was (thankfully) very flat and easy on the legs and knees. The run, overall, was extremely pleasant.

I started to feel really worn out at this point, and was begging to just be done and to please, please be able to stop soon. I thought mile 3 would never come. Just when I thought I really was going to have to stop because I'd stop breathing or have a seizure or whatever happens to people who run so hard they can't breathe even a little bit, I came to a tiny obstacle -- the entrance ramp to the road we'd be running on. Backwards. We were going to have to run slightly uphill, and I was tired. Real tired. It felt like such a devastating blow when I saw it coming, but once I got there I pushed myself really hard to run up the "hill" and take the opportunity afforded by the acceleration I experienced on the downhill to get in front of Blue Shirt.

Then, it was just a longish-short run to the end of the course. I was SO out of breath and out of it. I was so, so focused on just getting done, just FINISHING. Others around me were pulling out their last bit of energy, sprinting to the finish line, and I wanted to try to sprint too so I could beat them but my body screamed no, no, you can't! Then I rounded the last bend and saw the clock, 28:35 -- if I could hustle too I might make it in under 29min, a full 1min faster than I was normally achieving at home on the treadmill. I had to do it!

And I did!!! I ran through the gate at a triumphant 28:52. Not a bad showing for my first race ever! Plus, faster than expected! I was so excited and thrilled and proud of myself but still also delirious and out of breath. My mom approached me and attempted to half-hug me, congratulating me, saying "You did it!" but I felt just a little too disoriented to reply in a normal manner. Thankfully, there was a table manned by some guys giving out cups of water nearby, which was excellent. I got some of that then waited at the finish line for the others with whom I ran to finish, then we went to scope the scene inside. It was nice -- they had bananas, apples, juice, granola bars and hot chocolate available for the runners. Everyone else, I could tell, felt as triumphant as I did, as excited -- the post-race environment was a really charged, happy, social one.

Then, I heard the dreaded words proposed by my parents regarding next steps: brunch buffet. I was so happy about my athletic feat, so absorbed in it, that I'd somehow managed to forget food for a few hours. But that suggestion brought me back to the unfortunate reality of being a pig who could be enticed by a buffet even if she was actually the opposite of hungry at the moment of said proposition. So on we went. Two rounds of brunch buffet, an enormous chocolate-covered cookie, half a loaf of delicious cinnamon bread, most of the rest of the Blueberry Muffin cereal, a Starbucks, a sizable helping of popcorn, some fruit, some peanut M&Ms (which don't even belong to me, though I guess now they do...), and definitely at least 2 other things which escape my memory currently, I'm 4 pounds heavier than I was last week. I also have a terrible stomachache.

I may be heavy and bloated, but I still, deep down beneath all that food, feel really, really happy with myself and my accomplishment. I really enjoyed the whole race experience -- enough that I wrote this lengthy, slow-moving synopsis of my experience. I'll totally do more in the future! My future running goals are to improve my 5K time, then take on a serious challenge and attempt at 10K. Should be fun! Running can be such a rewarding sport. I'm so glad that even the little effort I put forth to get in shape for this paid off in such a big way. I wish I had a picture, but unfortunately the actual taking of a photo was out of my hands and in the hands of those who couldn't deliver.

Synopsis: Yay, race!

Also, I placed placed 117 out of 277 females, 378 out of 666 overall. Did it kinda a little less than halfway, but still!! Check out the results here.

Weekend updates

Friday: I left work early Friday, so I was home doing nothing for about 5 hours before we made an 8pm dinner reservation and it was 7pm and I had to hustle down to run. Given the time constraints there was no room for messing around -- no breaks, no nothing. This pressure actually worked to my benefit, and I wound up being able to run the whole time without slowing down (except the last minute, which doubled as a cool down, again given time constraints). So yay! Run!

Saturday: Nothing. Boyfriend was in town and chose to amuse him instead, and we had a great day around the city :)

Sunday: Probably too hung over to attempt a run today. Oh well!

Day Two

So today I was pretty exhausted -- I had 3 classes and had to get up at 8am after having stayed up until about 3am playing geography quizzes on www.sporcle.com (whose fault is that, right, but oh well). I was in class until 4pm, lazed about, and eventually fell asleep. Upon waking I ate a huge quantity of food and retreated back into bed to digest, assuming I'd blown it and wouldn't run today.

Not so! I found the motivation at 11:15ish pm (after waiting the recommended 1 1/2 hours after eating) to go down to the gym and run. I put the incline on 1% so it would feel like running outside, which was tiring too because in the past I always ran without even thinking of tinkering with the incline. I ran 2 miles at a 9:40 pace, got SO tired, took a short walking break, then ran the final mile, which was unpleasant because I was so out of breath. Then the gym closed so I had to leave, but my work was done.

I'm happy I've become more mature about knowing my limits as a runner and working with them to develop myself into a better one. In the past I would never, ever allow myself to take even a minute break to walk if I felt tired. Further, on a day like today where I was physically tired unrelated to running -- so it was possible if I went down to the treadmill I wouldn't be able to get the whole run under my belt with easy -- I'd opt not to run and pursue a different form of exercise. Anxiety about an impending imperfection would actually preclude me from even trying!

In short, I was tired, but ran anyway.


An additional note: It has been called to my attention that I sound crazy in the first entry. Allow me to clarify: it's likely my physical condition is acceptable, and more than likely that someone who wasn't me wouldn't think I was overweight. The result of some recent, stubborn weight gain and childhood struggles with weight and general largeness, I probably have body image problems, of which I regret indulging publicly via this blog. But anyway -- I ran today!

An additional additional note: I read today (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/jan/18/running-brain-memory-cell-growth) that running causes neurogenesis in runners' brains -- good deal!

So it begins.

Once upon a time (for 6 months of the glorious year 2008), I was thin and physically attractive. I looked like this:

This was a happy time. I proudly sported shorts, bikinis and other revealing garments in public. I felt light and airy, and could run up to 4 miles in a row at about an 8 minute/mile pace. Unfortunately, time caused 2009 to dawn, the sun set on my running abilities and my physical condition -- athletic, aesthetic and otherwise -- consequently deteriorated.

Things are different now. I have grown considerably in size, and will not disclose photographically the current state of my body. It is not good. So, after a year of attempting to revive my former interest in running that yielded little more than a few huffing-and-puffing-then-stopping visits to the treadmill, I decided things must change.

One day about 2 weeks ago I decided the time was now and it would be cool to force the issue and run really fast for as long as possible. I kept this up for about 4.5 miles. In a row. To me this fortuitous event seemed to call out to me, what better time than now to sign up for the soonest possible 5K race? And start an intermediate training plan in the middle, because pshh, I'm clearly in great shape already, seeing as I can run 4.5 miles in a row and all -- why not go for the gold?

Because, I found out the hard way, people who have been running for 1 day are not "intermediate" runners.  Clearly (in hindsight) my initial tack was too vigorous, and after 3 days of elated, dedicated training I injured my leg and unfortunately (the kind of "unfortunately" that really makes one secretly thrilled and relieved, like being able to avoid an annoying family function because you couldn't request off work that day, DAMN) was out of workout commission for 3 days. I'm pretty sure I've recuperated now, so I've started up again -- this time at the beginner level of an "Advanced Beginner" 5K program designed for someone like me, who has some running experience but has not been running for a while.

My workouts this week have been consistent with the training instructions. Instead of pushing myself to uncomfortable extremes in the name of progress, as I tend to do because I am an insanely competitive perfectionist, I reluctantly accepted the advice of a few experts in some running articles I read which told me to run at a "conversation pace," where one is not too out of breath, as the name implies, to carry on a conversation while running. I discovered for me in my current state this is about a 9:40/mile:

•  On Sunday, I ran 3 miles at this pace, and it felt absolutely great!
• The training program stated Monday was to be a rest day, but I rode the recumbent bike for 45 minutes instead, and lifted a couple of weights a few times each.
• On Tuesday, I was supposed to run 2.5 miles, but resources were scarce in the Fordham gym and each of the two treadmills was occupied. I did the elliptical for 20 minutes, then hopped on the treadmill, ran 1 mile, was too winded to go on, took a break, then ran another slightly slower one. I also played considerable amounts of DDR, if that's good for anything.
• Today does not look promising. I am supposed to run 3 miles, but it is already 9:52, and I ate a lot today. I am also tired. We'll see!
  

Anyhow, my race will be on 31 Jan at Jones Beach. I am excited! My goal is to get through the whole thing without stopping -- I am going to force myself to not care about the pace. My cousin Amanda is running with me, too. Hopefully following this athletic feat I will look something like this (and not, as I did in the picture, look like this because I went out in the uncannily athletic-looking clothes I'd slept in without showering and stood near some signs):

 Wish me luck!