FiveK wiser

Canada has come and gone and so has the 5K that THR and I signed up to do. We were saved from the Stupid O'clock start to the day by mom, the wonder-driver who willingly got out of bed at 6:00am to come pick us up and drive us out to Sidney. I can not put into words how much I love my mom for doing that; THR, an atheist, used the words "she is a saint" to describe her. I would agree.

The run, however, was less than sub par and I have no one to blame but myself. I stayed up too late the night before, I didn't properly hydrate in the 24 hours leading up to the run, and I forgot to grab my banana on my way out the door so I was running on, literally, empty. Just under two kilometres into the run, my legs decided they would run no more and I was left walking the rest of the way. Now, I knew going into this run, as did THR, that we weren't going to run the whole thing. Rough idea was the run the first 2K (roughly 15 minutes for us slow pokes), take a walk break, and then run the rest. At least, that was the goal, aiming to run 4/5s of it at least. Well, kudos to THR because she completed that goal and she rocked it. I was so happy for her. It was the first time she had ever participated in an official run and she should be very proud of her run. I regret that I wasn't able to cross the finish line with her. Next time, THR. Next time.

One of the first things that THR and I noticed when we arrived for the run was the fact that pretty much everyone else who was registered looked like they run a 5K each day for fun. We were easily the least athletic of the bunch. There were a couple of race walkers (and by a couple I mean, I think I counted four) and the rest where all uber-fit people who were aiming for a 20 min completion time. So much for our fun run! It also didn't help that after THR and I parted ways so she could continue to rock it, I found myself slowing down to admire the view or some of the houses that I fancied. Next time, running partner or not, I'm bringing my mp3 player so I keep up the pace, even when walking. At any rate, I now have times to beat for 5K and 10K so I'm happy with that. And I've learned my lesson to go to sleep early, hydrate properly and grab that banana.

This was me after the run was over.

I've looked at my plans for the summer and have elected that I will still train for the half-marathon in October, but I'm going to follow a training plan specifically to run/walk it. With the busy summer I have planned, I honestly don't think I could make the commitment to training that is needed to run it but I'm not willing to give up on the idea of doing the 10K.