This was my second year running the Jubilee Run for Cancer. The proceeds from this run benefit the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life organization. This event is held to celebrate life, encourage survivors to continue fighting, and honor those who lost their brave battle with this disease.
I like this run for the 8K distance because it is not offered around here that often. I also like to participate in any local run that benefits cancer organizations. Cancer has impacted so many families including my own. I've lost my brother and both of my grandmothers to cancer, and my mom and grandfather are both survivors.
I was not consistent with my runs during most of April and the first half of May. I had gotten out of the habit of running early before school. Most afternoons I stayed late at school, and on the afternoons that I didn't stay late I was too tired to run. I didn't run all week leading up to this race and it wasn't the first week I skipped running completely. I realized during this race how much that time off was starting to affect me.
It was a hot, sunny day. This course was very challenging to me. It ran through downtown Montgomery and there were several hills. I wanted to do as well or better than I did at last year's race. I started out at a fast pace thinking I could maintain it like I had last year. I encountered the first hill at 1.5 miles. I started out running up it, but it wasn't long before I stopped to walk.
Mile 1- 8:52
Mile 2- 9:07
I walked every hill after the first one. Then, I ran a little and walked a little. I felt like I did when I first started running. I couldn't run longer any more than a minute or two before I felt like I needed to walk. I never got in a rhythm with my breathing and I felt winded.
Mile 3- 10:21
Mile 4- 10:00
I was struggling and I guess I wasn't hiding it very well. Just before the last mile a lady and her daughter ran past me. The lady asked me if I was ok and she offered me a Cliff Shot. I've never tried those, so I thanked her but declined her offer. We ran out of a residential area and came back out on the main road.
There was one final hill before the down hill stretch the finish. I ran across the street and to the bottom of the hill and then proceeded to walk my way up to the top. The same lady and her daughter were right beside me and the lady said, "Don't let this old lady beat you." I don't know why that motivated me, but it did. I ran to the top of the hill and raced down the other side to the finish line.
I ran the last mile in 8:11. My finish time was 46:24, almost three minutes slower than my previous year's time. I shouldn't have expected a PR with so much time off of running. With running, like with anything in life you get out of it what you put into it. I had not devoted my time to it like I had in the past and it showed.
Mom and I participated in the one mile memorial walk after the 8K race.
When we got back the results were posted. There were several other runners who finished well ahead of me, so I wasn't expecting to place. To my surprise, I got second in my age group.
No comments:
Post a Comment