Sunday, July 26, 2009

If At First You Don't Succeed...

Maybe I should hang up my running shoes.

My race was yesterday, and I did really awful. It started bad and went downhill from there. I felt really good, didn't even feel that nervous, until the race actually started. Almost right away, I started to have this weird feeling that I can only explain as an anxiety attack. I wasn't even a quarter of a mile into the race and I couldn't catch my breath. I'm not that out of shape. I just kept running, even though I was actually wheezing by this point, because walking that close to the beginning would just have been ultimate failure. But by the time I got to about 3/4 of a mile, I started to feel better.

At the first mile marker, the guy called out "8:45", which is certainly the fastest mile I've ever run. The second mile went without incident, although I did walk in a couple places for 15-30 seconds. At the second mile marker, my time was "19:39" so I knew I had only about 10 minutes if I wanted to make my goal of finishing in under 30 minutes. I wasn't so sure I could do it.

The third mile was rough. I walked in a few places, but tried to keep them short. I knew I was in trouble when the guy pushing his kid in jogging stroller passed me. Then, when the time was at about 28:30, and the end was nearly in sight, I said to myself, "OK, let's just run as fast as you can until the finish." Not sprinting, mind you, just as fast as I could muster at that point.

This worked pretty well until I got to about 1/2 a block from the finish line. I could see the finish line. And I'm jogging along, and I started to gag. And I'm thinking, "I am NOT going to throw up, I am NOT going to throw up!" (Hey, hey Fred, another post to use the old vomiting tag.) And then...I threw up. Or rather, I would have thrown up, if anything had been in my stomach. Instead, I had to stop and dry heave just before the finish line. How embarrassing. I had to walk/jog the last 20 feet or so.

Official time: 31 minutes, 18 seconds.

The gal who won my age class came in 10 minutes before me.
I got the same time as the guy who got second place...in the 63+ age class.
I finished 141st overall, out of about 182 runners.

A big thanks to my friend Coreen who told me "If you finished, then it doesn't really matter...;)"

Although puking at the finish line doesn't really make me feel like a winner.

I won't even mention the fact that my husband didn't even come out to watch the race, despite the fact that we live 4 blocks from the start/finish line. Oops, I mentioned it. Not that it bothered me, nope, not one bit.

Needless to say, I have a lot of work to do. I'm going to start a new TT workout this week, but not sure which one just yet. I'm ready to get back to lifting weights, and looking for a workout that is pretty straightforward. I might go back to the Original TT workouts and use 2K3, or 2K4, or maybe even 2K6. I think I've done up through 2K5, so 2K6 would be something new. But I digress.

If I want to improve my 5K time, I think I need to practice running 5K (duh, right). But I also want to run the intervals in the TT program so I will have to integrate the two types of training. Maybe for now, I will just commit to running 5K once or twice a month. I think I'm done running in races for now, and then next spring/summer, I will look forward to finishing another race with a much better time!

8 comments:

that70sgrl said...

Awww Abby!! 31min for a 5k is TOTALLY respectable!! You did great considering how awful you were feeling! You did great, and the most important thing is that you didn't quit! :) Would it help you to know that I used to "RUN" my 5km in 45min?! :)

Anonymous said...

Congrats on crossing the finish line! I run a great deal (full marathons, half marthons etc) and I can tell you that one of the best ways to improve your 5k time is to start training with repeats -http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_1/103.shtml - They'll help build your endurance and stamina

-Kristen
http://www.dailymile.com/people/nekromantikmc

Anonymous said...

Okay Ms. Abby...have a seat, Mr. Funner has a few things to say to you.

First of all, let's be 'clear' on one thing: you ARE a winner, not because you finished the damn race (although I'm impressed you DID finish, given how sh*tty you were feeling), not because you had several incredible runs at the TT Tansformation Contests losing fat and gaining muscle, not because you post amazing recipes on a wekly basis and not because you caught a HUMONGOUS fish on your vacation.

You're a winner because you the kind of person who goes out and makes their our luck. (yeah, I know you saw that coming) You go after what you want and MAKE IT HAPPEN. You take action. You don't sit and complain...you DO things! Someone once said "The Universe rewards action." I truly believe that..and being a wise old dude I believe something else: you, my dear, are a winner.
'Nuff said.

By the way, care to guess how long it would take me to run a 5k?

I'd be lucky to break 40 minutes...

My 4 cents.

Take good care, Abby.
F.

Abby said...

Thanks everyone for the pep talks and advice! I feel better about it today than I did over the weekend.

Had a great workout this morning, too, and things always look a little brighter after a great workout! :)

Krissa said...

I am totally proud of you! You did the race and that is awesome. I have only done one race which was a 5k. I was very nervous before the race too. Mainly because I knew I had not trained enough to get the time I wanted. But when I finished I was just so happy that I actually did it.

Did you eat anything before the race?

I suggest picking another race and start training now.

You look like you could smoke everyone in a race :) You are nice and lean and FIT! You look the part for sure. I on the otherhand, do not look like I can do a 5k in 25 minutes but I did. So which one do you really want? I want to look the part so can we trade? :) Plus, you are super strong.

Unknown said...

Tis better to dry heave and cross the line than to hath blown chunks and never finished at all

I am far from a runner, but I know that you can do this. Just reading your quip about running your fastest mile ever (during mile #1) leads me to believe that you blew your running load within the first 9 minutes.

You may have finished 141st, but how many of those women were in better physical shape than you? How about none?

We (me and family) are heading to the Dells 9/9-9/12...I may have to drop in and we can run...or you guys could meet us at Kalahari for some stair climbing (slides).

You went into your first run with expectations and probably some trepidation....a cocktail for high stress. You did fine, but knowing you, you will kick a**.

later,

mikeZ

Teen Girls said...

Although I visit your blog often for motivation (your TT progress, not to mention the one handed pushup video:), I haven't yet commented. First of all, congrats on running the race AND finishing, no matter what your time. I've run a ton of races and sometimes you feel good and sometimes you don't. And a lot of the time, when the race doesn't start off good, it's hard to find a comfortable pace. That being said, I ALWAYS feel like I'm going to puke at the end and pray that I won't. ALWAYS...If I didn't, I wouldn't feel like I had given it my all.

Abby said...

Krissa - Thanks! I ate a piece of sprouted grain raisin toast with no sugar jelly about 2 hours before the race. I didn't want to eat too much and I figured I would err on the side of too little rather than too much.

As far as looking lean - you were looking pretty lean and strong in that tire flipping vlog the other day! :)

Smoke - LOL at the blowing chunks! Yeah sure, drop on by! My address is...wait, I've seen your workouts...nevermind...I'm pretty sure you would leave me in the dust! :) I think you're right about me starting too fast. It's hard for me to judge my speed when everyone is running faster than me! :)

Primal Mama - thanks for the comments! I really felt like I gave it my all, but like Smoke said, I think I gave my all too early! :)