So on Thursday we ran a 5.6 mile course that took us down Robinson's Way (further than we had been before), through the avenues, and around campus. We managed to time this so that we got to listen to and see some of the preparation for the homecoming parade but finish before it began and trapped us on one side of Sam Houston Avenue
The run lasted about 1 hour and 15 minutes, and we may have gone a little farther than the orginal 5.6 due to a course change spur of the moment...but not by too much. I ran the first 31 minutes with no walking breaks, and I walked very little (if at all) for the rest of the run as well.
Then this morning I ran my FIRST 5K race!!! I was really nervous, silly as that is since I have run much farther than 3.1 miles at once before. All the same, I couldn't help anxiously adjusting the tongue of my shoes, glancing at my watch, and furtively watching the other runners. My one real hope was to run most (if not all) of the route and finish before at least one person. I had other minor wishes, like managing to evade side stitches, that I also kept in mind.
I think I spent the first mile convincing myself not to worry about the pace the other runners were setting and to be in the moment, not concentrating on the distance. This was extra challenging since the route started at the HKC and went up Bowers...and I was quickly left behind. However, all that practice with the renegades paid off. I decided to stick to my motto of "my pace and live" rather than trying to maintain someone else's pace and dying. Also, each hill I tackled wasn't really that horrible. I conquered them one by one without walking, even Bowers.
Towards the end I did walk, but that was due to a lot of confusion on my part. As we neared the 4 way stop by the HKC, I thought we were almost done and sprinted, found out I had further to go, relaxed back into my pace, sprinted again thinking I was near the end, realized no, need to go to this next location, got to where we finish, only to find out that I had to run more then come back diagonally to the finish. At this point I walked then went on my merry way. I know that does not make sense in writing...but yeah, that's a glimpse of my confusion. I DID sprint in though (with all I had left)! Ask Andrew, lol. He has pictures to prove it. :-P
Overall, I finished in 32 minutes and some odd seconds (11 or 15...?). I passed probably around 5 people during the course of the race, and my time was under 35 minutes. I think for my first 5K I can call this a success.
P.S. Has anyone else seen the funky gargoyle-monkey statue on Robinson Way? That was bizarre...
P.P.S. Oh, and the run was the Raven Run 5K that Recreational Sports put on for homecoming. Cool, huh?
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1 comment:
Yay! Good for you!!
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