Risat’s BodyBlog

No, really that was the name of the race….It was an early one,  0730, but the kind where I could just roll out of bed and get there quickly (in other words, close to home, not in the city).  I ate some oatmeal first (trying to get back to some healthy eating, lol) and found myself pretty nervous.  I figured it out later (see below).  Got to the race, picked up my race packet (cool sport bottle w/a screw on bottom for snacks) oh and a toothbrush (yeah thats a first). Only had about 15 minutes to warm-up, temp was in the mid 60s already…..

Races are usually to support a cause, in this case a young man who was killed in a car accident along Mill road. His father started the race (a funny character, again see below) and we were off…there were a lot of teenagers at this race, in school track wear, so I knew we had some good racing to follow. The pace started out quickly, but I was running my own race….I’d say about 6 ladies were ahead of me, soon to fall back (out too quickly), but I just focused on my pace. It had been 6 weeks since I last raced, last ran (I had only one run in this week), yes, and I decided I wanted to race???? Am I crazy??? No, just determined. Anyway, again GA rolling hills, it started with a downhill (you know what that means at the end), it was an out and back (the best type course), I passed all of the ladies except for this one young girl (about 15). At the 1.5 turnaround, we started to just pace each other, I kept right behind her right shoulder all the way until about 2.8 miles (I was starting to fatigue, haven’t built up enough carbs yet…), she started here kick there (it was the start of that up hill), I knew that was a bit too early for me, I usually kick at about 2.9-3.0…so I held back, but that hill started to hold me back…and she outkicked me by 7 seconds…(rats) my time? A respectable 21:37 (about a minute off my best, but on average with my GA 5K times and a 6 week running break).

2d woman to cross, 1st ine my age group…Chicken biscuits for everyone! They were out of water (can you believe that?) and I don’t drink sports drinks (anymore) so I went to my car, got my phone (if you have a blackberry you have a "crackberry" habit, what if you have a Voyager???) and my water and checked out the displays (waiting for awards).

OK here is the see below….I was nervous because I wanted to do well. I set myself up with expectations based upon my previous accomplishments, then I take time off to pursue other things (like muscle building and bodybuilding competitions) and when go back (to running in this case) I was afraid that "my age" would start to catch up with me and I’ll lose the things that I do ejoy.  I have had many converstations with friends, and each time they say they are amazed that I can do the things I do ( I can’t explain to them, for me its fun and I love the hard work),  but they always go back to my age ( Ineed to stop listening to them, lol). I will continue to do what I do, for as long as I can and love it!

Here is the see below #2..the father also did the announcing (ok here I am going to show that winning is becoming a little too important to me), as he was announcing the awards he made mention of the boys (and the teen boys were all the ones that crossed 1st, 2d and 3d - well 4th 5th and 6th too) that had come in and their times….The young lady that crossed 1st, an excellent run for her at age 15 (oh they also received a free pair of Mizuno’s - rats again), he mentined her time…no Master’s winner at this race, only overall (and thats cool), but when they got to my age group (he had stopped saying the years, but runner’s know…), so he announces my name (1st place in the 40-44 - yea me!), but not my time and doesn’t acknowlege that I was just behind the winner…..here is my point, I wanted to get acknowledged as the 2d place runner. For a couple of reasons (because I like it when people congratulate me, lol) but that in a sport like this you can have someone sooo young and moderately old be #1 and #2. I think those hanging our for awards would have gotten a kick out of the age difference.  I’m kinda glad she won….it was in honor of a young man in her peer group and I really wasn’t running to win (well, maybe a little), but for a time and for a mark on my training wall to see what I need to do prepare for my next events (Tri-Fitness for one).

So one more 5k race on the books, later on I went and lifted (will post that in my journal). Training day again, my calves are tight and my shoulders.  I also need to get to yoga for some serious stretching….

Did I mention the chicken biscuits???? I skipped on mine, but I did eat a banana (its been even longer for that yummy piece of fruit - too many sugar carbs) …and for thoseof you who have no idea what I’m talking about…here is a picture, now I am not fom the South, so I had no idea…I’ve tried them, but at 420 cals….I’ll stay away….

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 27th, 2008 at 2:52 am and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.