Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Average - even when sick!

The race results came out for the St. Patrick's Day Human Race 5k that I ran on Sunday. Even with being sick, I still landed as "average". Actually, I was better than average/middle of the road. Imagine what I could have done if my lungs were cooperating!

671 Finishers
TimeMile PaceKilometer Pace
Winning Time0:17:565:473:35
Average Time0:33:2610:476:41
Slowest Time0:57:4918:3911:34


Preliminary Results
Marcella Sackett
Age 38
Bib Number
1306
Division
F3539
City
Bloomington MN
Overall Place
397 out of 671
Gender Place
200 out of 404
Division Place
20 out of 51
Finish Time
0:33:03
Mile Pace
10:38/mile
Kilometer Pace
6:37/km

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Life Lesson #316

"If you feel crappy at the start of a race, you are likely to feel even crappier at the end."

Yes, even though I have been laid up with a cold, fever, aches, and chills, I still decided to run the St. Patrick's Day Human Race today. As you know, my obsessive nature drove me to do it and here are the points that I used to rationalize it to myself:
  1. My fever broke at about 4 am this morning. It is always a lovely feeling to wake up in a pool of sweat (yes, my bedding is in the washer right now).
  2. Ethan was signed up for the youth 1/2 miler and Alexander expressed a bit of interest, too.
  3. Susan was driving us
  4. Susan and I both needed each others' motivation to make it to the race
  5. My New Year's resolution is to run a 5k (or a race) each month. I didn't want month 3 to be my first miss.
All lame rationalizations, but I still did it. I managed to finish in about 33 minutes even with 2 stops because my lungs stopped cooperating.

The boys were very cute running the 1/2 miler. Alexander decided to run it when we were walking out to take Ethan to the start line. After a quick, last minute registration, we jogged over to the start. They looked so cute that I had to take a picture with my cell phone (Alexander on left - #195; Ethan on right - #143).
Ethan enjoyed the run and will do it again. Alexander didn't enjoy it, but he wants to do it again. Funny boys! I would love to have running partners over the next few years. I suspect that within 5 years, they will be zooming past me!

Friday, March 14, 2008

First Run

I have wanted to join the Lifetime Fitness Run Club since I moved to Minnesota in 1998, but I haven’t ever felt mentally “ready” to participate. I was always worried that the runners would be too far advanced for me and that I couldn’t keep up.

This year was the year. I have been running for 5 months now and am really enjoying it. I wanted to meet other runners, learn some new routes, and to push myself into doing new drills and activities. This year was the year and I finally did it this week.

Last night, was my first run with the group. It was nice to meet a bunch of other runners, but my jaw dropped when I learned that they were going to do hill work on an 8+ mile loop! They saw my facial expression (I was VERY upfront about where I was in my training) and they split into two groups: one doing the hills and one doing a short loop. I, of course, took the shorter loop. As we are running along, I asked how long the loop was.... it was 5.86 miles!!! AND, I was running with experienced runners - one of whom was an ultramarathoner!! That means she has done 50 – 100 mile aces!!!! gack...In the matter of seconds my self confidence regarding running went from “I can do this” to “what the hell was I thinking???”

Needless to say, I was the slow little tortoise at the end of the line. It was good for my mental game because I needed to work through the normal aches and pains AND the psychological part of being the least experienced. It took me a little while, but I started focusing on the fact that at least I had made the leap and here I was with the Run Club. Here I was running on a beautiful evening. I started my usual mental game of focusing on the beauty around me and the sound of my feet hitting the ground. Overall, the experience of being the tortoise in the group will help me for races. I will learn to keep my own pace and to not get mentally "down". So, I found the silverlining and was able to enjoy the rest of the run.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to make the next two team runs on Saturday or on Tuesday. I will be there on Thursday! This tortoise is NOT going to give up!