Diaries I Read:
This Sunday morning, I got up at 5:45 and got ready for my big 10K race. I put on my blue running shorts, red running top, flag socks, shoes of course, and tied a red, white, and blue ribbon in my pony-tail. (I have this thing about putting ribbon in my hair for races. I guess it�s a throw-back to my gymnastics and cheerleading days. It just makes me feel special, like it�s a special event.) I even stuck a little American flag on a stick through my pony-tail elastic. Call me a dork.
I ate a bagel (Western Bagel � only 1 WW point!) and brought a Power Gel pack to eat right before the race started. (It�s basically like squirting chocolate frosting into your mouth � it�s got sugar and caffeine and stuff in there that gives you a little extra boost of energy � during a marathon, you might eat six or so of them. Some people think they�re nasty, but I like them!)
B, Dixie, and I loaded into the car and headed toward the park where the race was starting. This was a much smaller event than many of the races I�ve done (which can have 20-30,000 runners in them), but there were still probably about 500 people there. People were milling around, stretching, warming up. The announcer guy on the megaphone was really annoying. Even though the race wasn�t a big deal, and I was just doing it for fun, and it wasn�t a very long race that I needed to worry about, as always there was that little bit of nervousness, anticipation, as the start time approached.
Five minutes before race time, I downed my Power Gel, took a few sips of water, stripped off my sweatshirt, gave B a kiss, and headed to the starting line. This was the first time I�d started a race all by myself. Usually I have at least one, if not four or five or six, running buddies with me. I wondered to myself if it would be hard to run the race all by myself but figured that my solo morning runs had probably given me enough practice.
The starting gun went off and the race began. We started out on the grass, which is unusual, but soon were on an asphalt trail. As the race got going, I noticed a lot of people passing me. This was a little disconcerting, as I felt like I was running at a pretty good pace, but I reminded myself that many runners (especially those who don�t race very often) get too caught up in the excitement of the race and start off way too fast. Those are the runners you find yourself passing at the end. So I trusted myself and my pace and kept plugging along.
When I got to the first mile marker, the stopwatch girl yelled out, �Eight minutes, twenty-five seconds!� Wow, I thought, I�m keeping a pretty good pace. If I can keep this up, I can finish this thing with a good time. To date, my fastest 10K time had been just under an hour.
It was cool outside � perfect running weather � and the race course was pretty forgiving. There were a few gradual inclines, but nothing too bad. And there seemed to be as many declines, where you could let your legs go and make up some time. At the water stations, I took a cup and drank a few sips, stopping to walk a few paces and catch my breath a little.
As the race progressed, I felt good. And my pace was still good, too. It appeared I was keeping up a 9-minute/mile pace or better. I was pleased with this. I calculated that I could definitely finish the race well under my usual 60-minute time.
When I passed the 5-mile marker, my time was about 44 minutes. I knew then that I�d definitely make a good time. I wanted to kick it up a notch, but I�m always a little fearful that, if I do that, I�ll wear myself out and die toward the end. It�s always a little hard for me to gauge just how long the last 1.2 miles really is.
I kept thinking the finish line should be right around the next corner and, when it wasn�t, I did start to get a little discouraged and feel like I couldn�t keep going like this. Then the 6-mile marker came up, and the girl yelled �53 minutes, something seconds!� I was really pleased.
Then, a few paces up, there were B and Dixie along the side of the path. B ran alongside me for a little while. He said I had a really good time so far. I said, �I know!� He said I had about 200 more yards to go, so if I had any kick left, now was the time to put it in gear. I decided I had some more to give, so I picked up the pace a bit for the home stretch. Right then, I saw the finish line up ahead and I went for it.
I crossed the finish line at 54:37. I was thrilled with that time! It was about five full minutes faster than I�d ever run a 10K before, which is a pretty big margin when you�re talking about a 6.2-mile race. I got my water and my American flag and walked around until I found B.
It was about 8:00 and one of my running friends was running the 5K that started at 8:40. Even though I wanted to see her and say hi and tell her how great my race was, I really didn�t feel like waiting around there for 40 minutes, so we decided to just go home.
I was really on a sort of high about the race all day long. It was just such a good feeling to know that I�d run a race as well as I could. I felt really proud and satisfied with myself. It was a good feeling of accomplishment. All day I kept telling people that I�d gotten a PR that morning.
Then, this morning I got to work and saw an e-mail from my running friend that said �Congratulations!� in the subject line. Curious, I opened it only to read that, around 8:15 on Sunday morning they posted the results from my race and she saw that I�d placed 4th in my division! Can you believe it?! I actually placed! Usually I place like #329 or something � never 4th! Granted, this was a small race with much fewer runners � but still! I�ve been grinning all day.
Isn�t it funny how great little things like this can make you feel? I think that, as we get older, we have fewer and fewer opportunities to get out there and accomplish something that makes us proud. As kids, people are very quick to tell you how smart you are, or how polite or talented or strong you are. And as we get older, people don�t tell us those kinds of things very often. We don�t get so many trophies and ribbons and gold stars. So even though I know my little 4th-place finish isn�t that big of a deal � it wasn�t a very big race and I didn�t have to beat out all that many people and 54 minutes isn�t even really that fast � it�s a big deal to me. It makes me feel proud of myself, and that�s something we don�t often feel. It feels good.
Working at home - Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004
Toronto - Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004
On the way to Toronto... - Tuesday, Nov. 09, 2004
A Good Day - Monday, Nov. 08, 2004
Another letter - Thursday, Nov. 04, 2004