And I ran... I ran so far away... L & LLR's- June 4 to June 10th!

[kelownagirl]

I did my first 5k race this morning! A women's only run with all proceeds going to the local women's shelter. Got up at 6 am, had a light breakfast and headed out to register by 7:30 am. Had Jesse and Erik along to take pics and cheer me on. There were about 250 women there, some walking 5k, some running 5k or 10k. The results haven't been posted yet so I don't really know how I did in relation to everyone else but I did great for me! My best 5k time so far is 29:34 and my goal was to do 29:30-30:00. I pushed hard and did it in 26:45!!! Woo-hoo!! I did not place in the top 3 for my age range but I think there were only about 20 women ahead of me in the 5k so I am VERY happy. My legs cramped up when I finished for the first time ever. I was in zone 5 HR for 23 minutes and I hit a new maximum HR of 193. Who knew? Thought I'd better slow down a little at that point. Anyway, my first race was a success! What a rush!

[Skierchickie]

Okay, so I'm never ready for a 25k trail race this early in the season, but what's a little pain the next day? Unfortunately, my feet took a real beating this time - I've been getting blisters on my left arch all season, in longer runs, but I thought I had that worked out. Not so. Plus both feet hurt quite a bit after the race - I looked later, and both arches are actually swollen and lumpy looking along the inside edge. Very weird. They don't hurt as bad today, and look less swollen, but I'm a little concerned. Maybe I need different shoes? I have fairly high arches, so maybe I need more support, but then maybe the blisters would be even worse? I hate to scrap a pretty new pair of trail shoes. And we don't really have many options for shopping around and trying on a bunch (did that when I got these, on a trip to Appleton).

All in all it went well. Slower than the first two times I did this race (2:28:43), but not that far off. I was running with my friend for the first 15k or so, and then headed out alone to find my "zone" - I think it's easier sometimes to run a little faster if that pace feels more natural. Early on we try to stay together (yeah, it is a race, but that is way too far to really race), and I'm faster on the downhills, so I end up waiting a lot, and she's lighter & faster on the uphills, so I struggle to keep up (so the rests after the downhills come in handy). On the flats I just sorta feel bad for a long time. She's really faster than I am, but is more cautious on the downhills. This course becomes a more gradual downhill trend in the second half, so it's easier to open it up a little, and my extra weight is less of a detriment. I did end up with some alternating upper & lower calf cramping, along with my achilles (is that even possible?). Frequent short walks toward then end, but my longest runs have been two 2-hour trail runs (about 10 miles), so adding about 50% in one fell swoop isn't going to feel good. Anyway, I can barely walk today, so I guess I'll be biking until my feet return to their normal shape and size. My quads are killing me - we came home today, and the 2-1/2 hours in the car helped me seize right up! I just went downstairs to put the laundry in the dryer, and had to go down the stairs backwards.

Jan

[RedCanny]

I did my first 5k race this morning!...

Congrats!! You finished in great time.