Monday 18 July 2011

Running Woman Part 7 - I did it!!

Let's get all the drama out of the way at the beginning shall we? None of this slow build up, no sense of tension, no "did-she-didn't-she" nonsense. I was planning on doing that but quite frankly I'm a bit of a smug git at the moment so instead I shall just say,

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I TOTALLY RAN THE RACE FOR LIFE!!!

Three cheers for me. For she's a jolly good fellow and all of that malarkey.

I was struck down by a wicked bad cold a few days before the race and I am still very phlegmy and full of snot at the moment but as if I was going to let that get in my way. And my shin splints also made an unpleasant and un-wanted return but I knew that that might happen and I knew that I would run on them regardless and deal with the pain later.

The night before the race I had every bad dream you could possibly have that was running or race related. I dreamed that I didn't get there on time, that I couldn't find my team mates, that I went to the wrong place, that I didn't have my shoes - the list is endless, you name it, I had a panic about it in my sleep.

The Person had come over to see me run (first time I've seen him in 5 weeks, long distance relationships suck balls but that's a whole other topic for discussion) and he knew not to try and engage me in conversation the morning of the race but to let me wander about and look nervous and not really say much. In case you were wondering what I look like when I'm nervous, this photo will show you:

See? Worried.

I had no reason to be nervous, I knew I could run 5k after all, it's just all the hype and excitement that gets you going I think. In the end up it ended up being the easiest 5k I ever ran, it wasn't the fastest but nor was it the longest, it just didn't feel as long as my practice runs did. Maybe because I was just running about, following the pack and getting caught up in the atmosphere.

Unfortunately we were dingbats and forgot to time ourselves properly. The clock hit 37 minutes as we crossed the line but I reckon we were a good 3 minutes if not more getting to the start line so we've put a ball park figure of 35 minutes which is about standard for us. What's annoying is that we actually felt like we could have run faster but it's incredibly hard to pace yourself when there's 3 of you running, I think you err on the side of caution.


Plus we had a nightmare at the beginning of the race trying to find a pace that suited us and allowed us to dodge round people. If you know that you can't jog 5k please please please do not put yourself in the joggers group, just wait and go with the walkers. It was unbelievable how many people were walking after about 200m of the course - GET OUT OF MY WAY. We decided that should we run it next year we'll put ourselves in the runners group - we didn't do that because they said to go in that if you were planning to run it in 20 minutes or less (erm not so much) but in hindsight we should have just put ourselves in the back of that group and then we'd at least have had free ground ahead of us.


I was beyond pleased with myself at the end of the race (even if my shin wasn't, it's absolutely fine to run on but not long after stopping running he starts up a pretty tremendous racket) and didn't really know what to do with myself. The Person and I went out for lunch and it was lovely but all a little anti-climactic. I wanted to yell in people's faces "I just ran the Race for Life and I know it's only 5k but it's a really big deal for me!" but I decided against doing. For one thing, that just takes too long to say.

But I am pleased and I would love to do a 10k next but I'm not making any promises. I'm still unsure how to proceed with my shin problem - whether to ignore it and cope with the pain or just try something else to keep fit. I'm really not focussing on that though, instead I shall bask in my triumph.

This is my happy face. It's not particularly photogenic. It's definitely not attractive. But it sums up how I was feeling pretty well.

14 comments:

  1. Hurrah - well done you!! Running 5k IS a big deal, don't put yourself down - you can see how many people can't do it, and they don't have Eddie on their ankle! At my event there was just a fast group and a slow one and I was going to go in the slow one til I realised they all had buggies and stuff! The fast group wasn't very fast either.

    I think you should give the running a bit of a rest - smin or something instead, give yourself time to properly get over the shin splints and ankle egg - then start again gently with your shoe insert thing. You can get (probably expensive) running pants can't you, that are really tight and keep all your muscles in the right place? Then you should come and do the Great North Run with me! :)

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  2. Congratulations!
    Michelle

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  3. Yeahy!!! Mega congrats! You are too cool for school with all this get-up go get-um! Knew you'd get there in the end! Very impressed! :)

    Stupidly busy right now but trying to pop in from time to time - I may have to do most of my major catching up at the end of the summer! Hope all is good with you though! xxx xxx

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  4. It's so rare to see a photo of your face that it's lovely to see you looking so happy. Running 5k is a massive deal and you deserve to feel proud. Isn't it great you have a blog so you can tell the world rather than shouting at random strangers in the street? Well done!

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  5. Well done you! I know I couldn't run 5k so congratulations!

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  6. Congratulations! Triumph over adversity and all that. Or just sheer bloody mindedness! Whatever, I'm very impressed! Rest those legs up for a bit! ;-) x

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  7. Yay - I knew you would do it OK!!

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  8. Double yay!Well done you!

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  9. Yay, well done! Not that I had any doubt you wouldn't make it - and 5k is a big deal, its a good 4 and a half more than I could manage.
    By the way you look great in that photo.

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  10. *high fives* YEAH! Well done :) Come do the 10k with me next year?

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  11. You did it! You bloody rock! 5k IS a big deal. You can officially count yourself as better than all of us lazy sods who can't be bothered to put on a pair of trainers.

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  12. COngrats that's brilliant! And actually that photo's really not that bad at all, don't be so hard on yourself! I'd have been all red and puffed up after 5k!

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