I Am a Runner!

Well it was that time of year again: time to race in the BYU Alumni Run. This year it sneaked up on me - considering it was a month early - and when I signed up for it I only had two weeks to train. And for someone competitive like myself, I knew I would be disappointed if I didn't beat my old time and I was panicking that two weeks would not be enough to get back into my running game.

So I ran my butt off.

Seriously, I did. Even when I was sick I went running, and then pouted because my times were horrible. I didn't care that I couldn't breathe through my nose and my head felt like it was full of bricks. Even when the air was like a death fog outside I went to the treadmill (that's a big feat for me people, I LOATHE treadmills), and pouted because my times were REALLY horrible (treadmills are death). I could not get up to my regular speed, let alone improve on it. I was freaking out. When the air cleared, even though it was dark and scary outside in the early morning, I still went running -I wouldn't have time later on that day during actual waking hours - and actually ended up with one decent run before the big day.

Which brings us to the morning of the race. After being plagued with constant worries of side-aches and tummy troubles (both the bane of my runner's existence), I started out at a nice slow pace once the gun was fired to begin the race.

And then I ran. And ran. And ran.

I conquered the devil hill that starts off the race and then the downhill and flat parts that finish it off. All with no problems. And I didn't walk once! That is a first for me. While I run at a decent speed, I've always had to walk for a few seconds here or there to catch my breath. Not that day, nope. I became a true runner.

My old 5k time to beat was 29:34. As I rounded the corner, I saw the time on the clock and I was so excited; it pushed me through the last sprints to the finish line. I finished in 28:11. That's a whole minute and a half off my time! Wohooo. When training on the treadmill, I couldn't get under thirty-three minutes (that's because treadmills are death, remember), so I had been terrified I wouldn't beat my old time. Well people I creamed it! That's a nine-minute mile - so awesome for me.

Not only that, but I felt good. I didn't feel completely wasted and death-like, like I normally do after a 5k. Also, last year I came in 86th overall, and this year I was 62nd overall. I was happy with that improvement. I was ninth in my age division out of twenty-eight females (danget I can't seem to get better than ninth - even if there were more in our division this year to beat - still! I am stuck at ninth place every year). Top third percent!

Kyle and Katrina ran the race with me, and Katrina also got her best time of twenty-four minutes (that is SO fast), and got third in our division. Lydia lucked out with her medal once again.

We also waited for prizes after the race. We've been waiting for three years to win something. THREE YEARS! We thought for sure this would be our year. But, danget, they just want us to keep coming back I guess.

Now I know that's a lot of bragging, but this is coming from a girl who used to be overweight, unhappy, and unfit. It has taken me YEARS to get into running and come this far. I used to hate running (I still do about 60% of the time) and I kept with it to lose weight. Now I find a lot of joy in the accomplishment of it, even if it's only when I've finished a run and look back at what I did - in other words, after I'm done hating myself for the torture I'm putting myself through.

 I love this quote that I found:

Even though I try to look at it this way, I didn't feel like a runner until after this race. I usually just feel like some wannabe that pretends to keep up with everyone else. I know that's the wrong way to look at it and I see anyone else that tries hard as a runner, but for myself, this competitive mind had to prove it first.

Now onto my next 5k in a few weeks. It will be a Zombie run where people will actually be chasing me. Ah! I'm a bit terrified. I don't know that I'll go for personal records on this race, more just try to survive without having a heat-attack. But it should be fun nonetheless :)

With all that running blah-blah out of the way, I do have to say that I plan on starting a new segment on this blog about fitness. It's something that's become very important to me and I find that I have a lot to say on the matter. And what better place to say it than on MY blog where I talk about the things I love? :) So be ready for many more reasons to be fit.

Fitting reason for today isn't it :)