My News Years Resolutions included running a 5K race at a pace that was under 11 minutes per mile. Back when I made that list, I had been running 5K's at paces of 12:44 - 12:49. The reason I joined the Get Fit Live Fit running program was to become strong enough to hit that goal pace of under 11:00.
I had a fairly decent run two weeks ago at my first 10K (6.2 mile) run. With a pace of 11:35 I got to thinking maybe I COULD run a 5K (3.1 miles) under 11:00 now. So that night, I signed up for the RUN LIKE A GIRL 5K.
I wasn't entirely sure how smart it was wearing clothing to this race that I had never run in before. I mean, you are always being told to never do that. However, this morning I wore my new Livestrong shirt and *tadah* a sparkly black and gold ribboned tulle tutu! Also, I put on a black non-ventilated cap that I used once and found too hot. So....why did I put it on today? Because it matched my outfit, silly!
Got to the race and was so relieved to find the weather was beautiful!!
I was also relieved to find a lot of tutu's there. Also, there were super hero costumes, a cabana dancer, harem dancers, and men in drag. There was even a group of high school boys from the Evergreen High School Cross Country team in drag. There was a lot of costumes. I felt not so out of place in my first run with a tutu.
My goal today was to start more towards the back and to start smart. I put on Lionel Ritchie's song EASY as I approached the starting mats...I was calm. I was cool. I started my watch and MapMyWalk as I crossed the mats. I had this under control.
Then.....I got STUPID and starting over thinking. The throng I was in felt incredibly slow so I put it into gear and cut through and around them. It didn't feel like I was speeding but when I looked down at my Garmin watch, it said I was running a 9 minute pace and my heart rate was already up to 171.
From then on, it was a MENTAL battle. A disgustingly over-thought, difficult MENTAL battle.
My legs had been feeling sluggish all week. Today? They felt magical and invincible and ready to win. My knees felt perfectly fine. But my heart rate kept going UP.
When I run, I always slow down as I near a HR of 180. I have gone to 191 as recently as last December, but I don't want to do that. After having a full echo/stress heart exam with a cardiologist and being given the thumbs up (and after being told I have a resting heart rate of 54 and a "rabbit's heart" that accelerates and decelerates very rapidly) I set myself a limit of 180 excepting the final kick in a race. Today, I was constantly hitting 180. It was MADDENING! Time after time I was pulling back when I felt strong. It was making me crazy. WHY was it so high?
I thought maybe it was dehydration as I was sweating a lot and it can increase your HR so I guzzled 8 ounces of Gatorade.
I thought maybe it was my overheating as my head was on fire from that darned black hat, so I took it off and carried it.
Still, the heart rate remained a battle for me. I had given up on this run thinking there was NO WAY I would meet my goal and would have to try another 5K. There I was at the 2.5 mile mark having a pity party wanting to kick it and having to hold back as two young kids raced past me.
Coming to the finish, I decided to heck with my watch. I am running to my comfort level and kicking it in to the end. My watch said I hit 187 at the very end but I felt GREAT and had no dizziness, disorientation or tingling. I was fully functional and talking to people. I am going to assume I didn't do any damage.
My Garmin and my MapMyWalk were at war with each other but BOTH said I met my goal. So, I waited for the official results to be posted. WOOHOOO!!! I had an official time of 32:29 which matched my Garmin and an official pace of 10:28 which was one second faster than what MapMyWalk said.
Now I have my speed goal out of the way, I can focus on adding many miles to my base for my next goal - running a Half Marathon in October.
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