A Looooong Overdue Race Report

So, I ran the Flattop 5K in Lamoine, ME on March 26th. (yes, that was 10 weeks ago) My goal was to finish the Couch to 5K program and run in this race. I had been told that it was a fairly easy race without many hills in a rural setting. Perfect. My BFF & I, (like that, Penny?) had agreed to run the race together. (thank GOD she came!) We'd been doing the C25K program together, but from a distance. Penny lives in the middle of the woods in Trescott. We IMed about our progress (or lack there of) often during the training program.

So - we arrived on race day. The sun was shining and my iPod was charged. The only catch? It was 20*F race day morning, with a horrific wind chill to boot. It was effing frigid. I'd never run in temps so cold. I was scared to death. Thoughts like, 'I'll freeze to a solid LUMP on the side of the road', and 'people don't actually RUN in conditions like these, right? RIGHT?' were swirling through my head. But, nonetheless, I prepared myself.

 

Here I am. There was a brief moment of excitement after picking up my race number and receiving the complimentary tote bag! (probably before the ice cold outside air had reached my lungs)

Have I mentioned how freakin' awesome my friend Penny is? She drove up in the wee hours of the morning on this blistery day to run in this race, for which she hadn't even completed training for yet. (she got a later start to the C25K program than I did, and had a few hick-ups along the way) Penny, you rock.

Penny & me

Here's one of the reasons I love Penny. She'll pose for pictures like THIS with me!

So, we registered and waited. (I was super, SUPER early because I was also terrified that my car would break down, or I'd get pulled over, or a tree would fall on top of me - or, all of the above) I geared myself up, then realized I was missing something - I searched frantically for the little rubberized cover that somehow became loose and fell off my right ear bud. I never found it. Thankfully, this was my only real race day incident. I determined that yes, I could in fact still jam that little sucker in my ear without the cover, or - even go (gasp!) without one ear bud. All was well.

Next, I ate a banana. I had eaten a Luna bar (lemon!) on the ride up, and had my usual cup of coffee and some water. I had been SO worried about what to eat on race day, until I read, 'just eat what you normally do' and had this huge 'well, DUH' moment. (so, I passed on my usual corn beef hash, homefries, & eggs benedict! ;o)

After what seemed like FOREVER, they called us to the starting line.

I'm in there somewhere. Promise.

And, before I knew it - we were off! The beginning of the race felt weird to me. I was stuck inside this huge mass of people and it was hard to be elbow to elbow with other runners, all who wanted to move at different paces. But, I made it through, and 1/4 mile down the road runners were spaced out and I didn't feel like I was going to knock someone out with my overly zealous arm-swinging.

Here I am! (I look SO serious!)

I was nervous. It was cold. I thought that the race day jitters would wear off as soon as I started running, but that didn't really happen. I was conscious of all the runners around me, even though we weren't smashing elbows anymore. I kept thinking that I was 'in the way', or 'not moving fast enough', or any other number of nonsense things. I realized that I didn't know the protocol for passing people. Was it like the highway? Pass on the left only? It didn't appear that that was the case, but I hung back awhile watching other runners around me. There didn't seem to be much consistency. I had difficultly finding my pace. I was extremely concerned that the adrenaline coursing through my veins was giving me a false sense of how fast I was going, and one of my worst fears was running TOO fast, and not pacing myself. (turns out, I could have probably run faster - I hung back a little too much)

So, in the first mile I spent time worrying about freezing to death, and the rules about passing. Then, after about a mile was under my belt we came to this section of the course that opened up into a large field. I thought I was going to die. Seriously, the wind whipping across that field took the air right out of my lungs. I started having serious doubts about my ability to press on. By then, old people were passing me - they seemed fine. Clearly, they had been running awhile, probably in worse conditions than this! (at least, that's what I told myself...) So, I got a little burst of energy. I decided that I was tough, and I could take a little sub-zero air, and that the pain was only temporary. I'd trained for this. It was only 3.1 miles.

It wasn't much further to the halfway point of the race. I had been waiting for it. I knew that the race was an up-and-back situation, and that at some point we'd turn around and head back to where we started to finish the race. I saw the people standing up ahead with a sandwich board sign to indicate we were halfway through, and by the time I got there all I could think was, "oh my god - i'm only halfway through!" But, once I turned around and started heading back I just thought to myself, "okay, you are MORE than halfway through now!", and "keep running, or else that take-the-air-right-out-of-your-lungs field is going to eat you alive!" I convinced myself that stopping would mean getting cold, and that was not something I could afford to have happen. So, I pressed on. At mile 2 there were some lovely people and a golden retriever cheering runners on. They were yelling things like, "you're almost there!", and "way to go!" (they are my heroes...thank you, random people)

At mile 2 1/2 I finally realized that I had panicked for the majority of the race. I was so worried about freezing to death, or passing out on the side of the road that I really hadn't paid attention to the fact that I could have moved a little faster. I wasn't really tired. So, I tried to crank it up for the last 1/2 mile. The very last part of the race weaved back through town, and people were lining the roads. It was like I had my own personal fan club! (it's fun to pretend, anyway...) People started cheering, and before I knew it, the finish line was in sight! I thought to myself, 'could this be REAL?', 'am I actually finishing this race?'

I'm not sure where all the self-doubt came from. I think that over the course of the last few months I had convinced myself that I wasn't really a 'runner', that I was just running a race. (hmmm....i'm not sure where the logic is there) So, I did it. I ran the race. I ran it in 29:34. I didn't freeze to death, or throw up, or run anyone over. (I'm still confused about the 'passing rules' thing though, so if anyone wants to clarify that...) And, once the whole thing was behind me, I thought to myself, 'Sure! I could do this again!' (now, ask me how many races I've completed or even signed up for since this one.....)

approaching the finish line

we freakin' did it!