What Was I Thinking?

Over the weekend, I got it into my head to run the 32nd annual "Four on the Fifth" road race in Chester, Connecticut. Matt and I thought it was a great idea, at first. And then we saw the weather report: heat advisory for the state, 90s all week, humidity, you get the picture. The news showed pics of people headed to the beach, the pool, the cooling centers... Matt wisely expressed doubt, and when I insisted, he admitted his fear that I would collapse of heat stroke.

I figured it would be fine at 10:oo am in the morning. It wasn't supposed to hit 90 until at least 11:00. Foolishly, I didn't really pay close attention to the humidity (which I never really understand anyway), but I did see that the number posted on weather.com was lower than the humidity in Minnesota yesterday, when my friend Robert ran (and finished - kudos, RC!) his first half-marathon. So despite his forewarning that running in this heat was hard, last night I decided to go ahead with it. I ran the Reindeer 5K in 19 degree weather, and I had run 4-5 miles a couple times this year; I could do this. What the hell, right?

What the hell was right. My husband wisely opted out in favor of a trip to the-greatest-ever-pizza-filled Brooklyn. I was sweating before I even started running the first half-mile, which was all in the sun. Then, there was the well-known fact that this road race is difficult: well-known to everyone but me. After the sun-filled first half mile, there was a mile and a half uphill (the elevation map was posted on line...). And, even after hydrating last night and all day, I've had a headache ever since the race finished.

But, Chester is a beautiful little town, which my mom and I had never visited before. On the main street, there are lovely 19th century mill buildings converted to shops and restaurants; a band played for the spectators, and the local coffee shop, The Villager, sold freshly squeezed lemonade and iced hazelnut coffee, my mother's favorite. All along the route, families hooked up their sprinklers and hoses to cool us down when we ran by. Little children cheered us on and held their hands out for high fives. Teenage volunteers passed out water cups every half mile or so. And best of all, I finished, not with the best of times (47:25), but considering it was my longest race so far and I never stopped jogging on those hellish hills, I was satisfied.

I'm here in Connecticut every 4th of July. I thought maybe I could do this every year, thinking that maybe it won't be as hot next year and that Matt and I can train for the hills a little bit, which I should do anyway. But then I met a older man who ran the first 30 of these races; he told me that most years, it's hotter.

I think next time I hear that there's a heat advisory on the way, I'll head for the neighbor's pool instead.

*photo credit: my mom

2010 Maple Syrup Run

In case you are wondering, it's been a year since I first starting tracking my 5K times. In 2009, I ran 4 5Ks, and this year, I'm hoping to at least pass that by one. My training hasn't been perfect, but I've made some good strides.

Last April, I ran the Maple Syrup Run at River Bend Nature Center in 36:14. Yesterday, I ran it in 31:02, which is almost exactly a 10 minute mile pace. This year, my time did feel like a major milestone. I accomplished goal, and for someone who often thinks of herself as indecisive and lacking self-discipline, that's pretty damn good!

Kudos to my husband, who shaved a good seven minutes off his time, too!

The Maple Syrup Run

This morning I woke up to a cold, gray, rainy day, which was not exactly what I wanted to see after a long winter in Minnesota and right before I was heading out for my 5K. I put on a pot of coffee and then took my dogs out for a walk to wake up a little bit.

5Ks (not that I have that much experience) are fun in the small town I live in. Matt and I have lived in Faribault for five years now, and many of our friends, students, and colleagues show up to run, volunteer, or cheer each other on. Today's run was at the River Bend Nature Center, and the route passed through a prairie, up several small hills, by the banks of the Straight River, and over a turtle pond (oh, and by the Minnesota Correctional Facility).

I followed Matt's advice and started out slowly, and I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable I felt. There really weren't any mile markers, so I didn't have any idea how far along I was. I kept count of the number of songs I listened to, thinking that would give me an idea of how far from the end I was... and before I knew it, I could see the end. "Shake It" by Metro Station came on (thanks, Timberwolves Dancers), and I started running faster toward the finish line.

And that was it: 36 minutes and 14 seconds*. No seeing God, no stomach cramps like I remember when we ran the mile at Hyman Fine Elementary School back in Attleboro, no major personal journey milestone. Just another step forward as I try and take back this terrible creep of pounds.



* Only 22 minutes and 3 seconds off world record pace (Tirunesh Dibaba, 2008). Of course, that wasn't cross-country.

5K and Pancakes, Maybe

On Sunday, I'll be jogging my first 5K since 2006. Back on that day, I literally ran the race cold, having not run anything longer than a mile since I was about 19.

This time, I'm in good shape, but I still haven't run 3.1 miles on the road in a long time... Um, since September 2006, the aforementioned 5K.

So, I've been running a mile or a mile and a half every couple days. Today, I sort of ran 3 miles on the treadmill (sort of = walked a little bit every now and then).

I don't have much to say, but if I put this in writing now, than I have to follow through and show up on Sunday. Then maybe I'll have some nonsense about a personal journey and a post-5K pancake breakfast to blog about.