My house is clean, the kids are quiet, so I've poured myself a glass of red wine, stolen some of the kids chips and have decided to get caught up on blogging/facebooking.
Which of my loves will I start talking about???
Lets start with wine, this is a lovely glass of wine I am having right now :)
And I promise I have only had a couple of sips so far, so this is not a red wine induced ramble you are reading ;)
Next love, running. Had my first 10k race on Saturday. I've done 5ks, 5 miles, 10 milers, and half marathon but never a 10k race. Strange seeing as that's my favourite length of training run. I was very excited to finally be racing this distance. Got up at 6 so to be able to have coffee and breakfast before my 630 cut off time. Race started at 830. Prepped the kids chocolate chip pancakes for their breakfast then took off before they had woken. The race was part of the "gold dust days" celebration in gold hill, about 20 mins south of where I live. I parked, then walked through the Main Street where vendors were setting up their stalls for the street fair and parade. I was a little early so wasn't too concerned with the small number of runners at that time, however by 820 when they started to talk you through the routes, there was a 5k as well as 10k that day, I realized that this was going to be quite a small event. And even worse, it appeared to be a small event of pretty elite looking runners. And, I wasn't quite following what he was saying about the course, therefore the anxiety began to build "I don't know where I'm going and I'm not going to be fast enough to keep up with the others to follow them".
Off went the gun. I wasn't ready. I had read this was a no ear phones race, however I could see others with their buds in ready to go. I began to scramble with my iPhone, pulling out my buds that I had stashed for further on in the race if needed, and scrambled to get everything in place while running the first half a mile. Bear in mind this ran through the Main Street of vendors cheering you on so I was taking in my surroundings, smiling and thanking them, whilst trying to get my stuff sorted. Not a good start for my form/technique. We crossed a wooden bridge, turned a corner, then there it was, the first incline!! Not too bad, very doable, I just hadn't realized there would be multiple of these along the way.
I wasn't In a good place mentally. I knew I had passed a couple of women, but the others seemed so far ahead I thought I was running at the back of the pack. My legs were only getting into the zone for a few minutes at a time and then would feel like cement. Was i racing too soon after my 13.4 mile training run Saturday, followed by a race pace 10k training run on my birthday, then a half an hour of full out sprints on the Tuesday after which my knee had hurt so I had taken the rest of the week off???? And my lungs felt tight, was that from the smoke from the fires in grants pass the night before??
It was a challenging race indeed. But this is what I love about his sport (after the fact) that you have to fight with your self doubt, fight with the urge just to quit and go do something else and push through the pain and fatigue to get you to that finish line. And when you look you can find the prompts to help push you to keep going. The man in his 70's, passing you, telling you "you've got this" and you watch his effortless looking stride and work to mimic it. The realization that the extra loop is shorter than you thought, and then the couple of women close to the finish line yelling extra encouragement to help you finish strong. I looked at the clock disappointed to see it said 56 mins 4 secs. I had wanted 2-3 mins less than that. But you know, for how I felt on that run, it could've been a lot worse. And it immediately prompted my brain into my training plan for my next 10k on 4th of July :). So these chips and choccies by my side. No more after today ;) it's get serious time to see if I can pull out a PB in a month. Got to get serious as that coastal run could be a windy one. But I will be ready!!!!!!! At the end of the day, I came in about 22nd of the 36,with an average pace of about a 9min mile, and amazingly came in in 2nd place for my new age category now I'm 40 :)
Ok, time to wake you all up with a photo of my other loves
Here they are after the football championships Saturday.
3 games Scott had to coach. Braedens play offs, followed by Cades championships, followed by Braedens teams championship game. All games were so fun to watch. Action packed, edge of your seat. And in the end, they both clutched a 2nd place trophy, but what they gained was so much more. Great friends, great achievements and ready for post game celebration. So off to the sushi buffet we went :)
Well, it's time to finish up. Got some dinner dishes to get cleaned up and a load of laundry to move through. No rest for the wicked :)
Hope alls well with everyone
Love to all
Lucy xxxx
