My First Race!

I have considered myself a runner for about a year and a half now, in that running is my main source of exercise.  I have done long runs and short runs....fast ones and slow...and pretty much everything in between.  But the one thing I had yet to try as a runner is racing.  Which seems strange, because it seems like that is one of the first things people start doing once they beginning running.

I never got into racing for a few reasons:
-Skip is hardly ever off on a weekend....without child care, I can't run the races.
-When it comes to working out, I have always been very self-motivated, so I never needed a race on the calender to inspire me to work out...I was going to do it anyway.
-Between the two girls and Skip's insane schedule, time to work out for me can often be limited and must be flexible.  I could either step out my door and run 3 miles in half an hour or less, or I could drive to a race..check in...stretch...wait for the start...run 3 miles...walk around for a bit...drive home.  I know racing is about so much more than just getting in some exercise, but I just don't really have the time to do it regularly.

But recently I was looking up some races in my area and found the perfect one.  It was on a day Skip was actually off, it was close enough to my house, it was for a great cause, and my baby sis was running it too! {she has been racing for years and is super amazing at it...she was actually my motivation for doing this!}  So I registered before I could think twice about it.

Well Sunday morning dawned early and I have to be honest, I was dreading heading out to the race.  I hadn't done anything to prepare, I woke up with a terrible cold and my throat on fire, and a threat of thunderstorms was in the air.  I had only gotten a few hours of sleep and I was still sore from my run the day before.  Running a race was pretty much the last thing I wanted to do.

But I am not one to give up, so I got dressed and ready, and the whole family headed out!  We got there about 45 minutes before the race, which for this one really ended up being more time than we needed.  We hung out with my sister and her husband and their dogs {this was a race for the shelter she adopted her dogs from}.  A lot of people looked nervous or excited, but honestly, I was kinda meh about the whole thing.  Most of it was because I was feeling so sick, but also it was just a 5k.  I mean I didn't even eat breakfast beforehand.  I was just a little surprised at all the warming up, jogging, stretching, etc people were doing.  To each his own I guess.

Finally it was time to line up.  My sister and her husband were running with their dogs, so they had to start behind me.  I decided to start off in the middle of the pack and just see what I could do.  I really didn't start off with any sort of goal for the race other than to finish, and hopefully not in last place.  I didn't know what to expect so I wasn't going for a PR or anything.

The race started off with a decent hill, but I was actually able to pass a bunch of people, which felt pretty good.  I was purposely keeping my pace a little slower as I rarely run when I'm sick, and I wasn't sure how it would affect me later on.  I was unfamiliar with the route of the race as well, but had heard that it was relatively flat.

Well, that was wrong.  Sure, there were some flat spots, as well a few decent downhills, but there were also quite a few hills...and not small ones.  I really hate hills.  That combined with the fact that only some of the roads were closed to traffic and once we had to try and cross the main street all by ourselves made the route much more difficult that I thought it was going to be.

I was surprised at how good I felt while running, despite everything.  There were only about 60ish people signed up as runners, so we were able to spread out quite a bit.  I just kept at my own pace and ran my own race.  I really never reached a part where I felt too tired, so I was able to run the race with negative splits, which I am hardly ever able to do.

I've been running mainly long runs recently {minimum of 5 miles whenever I go out} so when we hit the 3 mile mark, I had kind of forgotten that I was almost done!  So I picked it up and sprinted as fast as I could to the finish line, passing 4 more people along the way.  It was so nice to hear Skip and the girls cheering for me! {who had kept busy with the fireman while I was running!}

Since everyone is always interested in numbers, here's how I did.  I finished in 29:57 {which is almost 4 minutes faster than my PR of a 5k} I placed 2nd in females ages 30-39...6th overall in 30-39 age group....8th overall for females...and 23rd out of the whole race.  I could not believe it!!  Considering my only goal was to finish and run without stopping, I was pretty freaking proud of myself.

So was it fun?  Absolutely.  I liked getting to try out a new route to run on.  It was fun being able to pass people and wave to my sis and BIL during the race.  It was fun to have people cheering you on at the end.  It was nice getting to place and seeing my name on the results.  I do have to work on learning how to run while grabbing water from the station though...I manage to just dump most of it down the front of my shirt....at least it was hot out!

Me explaining my water mishap to my sister

But I really don't plan on making this a regular thing.  For now the next two races I have in mind are a 1/2 marathon around here next September, and the Disney Princess 1/2 marathon in January 2015.  Other than that I just plan on keeping up with my regular runs and pushing myself.

If you're a runner, do you prefer to do races or just run on your own??