I had a successful run last Saturday in the Lumberjack 10 miler. No, I didn't wow anyone with my speed but myself, and there are technically no bragging rights when you come in 898th out of just over 1,000 runners. But victory is in the eye of the beholder and this girl accomplished her goals in training and finished at the top of her goal range and is quite satisfied with herself! :)
I specifically trained for this race for 6 weeks, and my runs really ran the gamut as you saw if you kept up with my weekly training check-ins. The week had kicked off with the always awesome, 20 hour, two-day road trip of 1100 miles of driving (I drove it all) with four children and a grandma sidekick.
I decided to celebrate our arrival on Tuesday night with a bottle of wine to erase the experience from my memory. Awaking Wednesday morning and realizing I had a race to run in a few days and had done nothing in 3 days but sit on my ass (can I say ass here?) and consume a bottle of wine, I decided I better pull it together. I ran 3 miles, banished alcohol for the rest of the week and ate and hydrated like a purist until Saturday.
When I first arrived in MN, I could tell the weather was going to be much kinder to me than GA weather had been, as I could feel a nice breeze in the last two morning runs I did before the race (a 3 and a 2 mile) and felt like that would be a huge benefit to me in how I felt during the run.
The day itself could not have been more perfect for a long run. It had stormed in the night, so although the humidity was noticable, it was completely overcast and in the 60's for most of the run. It was hugely helpful to not have the sun beating down. Perfect, could not have asked for better.
We were bussed out 10 miles from downtown Stillwater, and I was so pleased to see that not only was it a gorgeous run along the St. Croix river, but it was very flat.
I really was not nervous, more anticipatory. Maverick had come with me to be there at the finish line and take pics, and my friend, Monica, was running with me. They were my security blankets!
One thing I noticed right away about the participants in this event compared to the sprint tri, was how fit everyone was! I was really surprised. I mean, there were 1000 people running this race, and every one of them looked like they could do it. In the sprint tri (granted it was called a "my first tri" so it did run the gamut of body types) you saw every type of person, young-old-fit-fat-muscley-flabby. Here, everyone looked like a serious runner with toned running legs. Did I fit in? Did I look like I belonged there? I wondered.
I learned something new about distance runs, and that is that they give you pace runners so you can follow a certain pace that you want to finish in. Nice! Monica and I decided to start the race back with the 10 min. mile pacer.
We were off! I felt good right from the get go, and pretty soon I had passed the 10 min mile pacer and then even the 9.30 min. mile pacer...my goal was to stay very steady because I really wanted to run the whole race without having to walk.
The first 3 miles went very quickly and easily for me and I remember thinking, I've already done a 5k and still have a ton left in me! There was a water station about every two miles, and as my marathon friend advised me, I slowed down and took 2 cups at each one, one to drink and one to pour over my head to keep me cool.
Here are some things I learned during this long race: running is not a pretty sport--especially for men. During the run I had the pleasure of watching a man right beside me blow his nose in his hand and wipe it on his shorts. Another great experience was when I ran past a man who stopped right on the side of the road and pee'd. That was special. And then there was the man who made some coughing, wretching sounds and I wanted to suggest that he might want to throw up on the side of the road and not in the middle of it.
There was also a variety of spitting going on, and I passed one horrifically sweaty, shirtless man who eminated an odor that I quickly sprinted past. It was also really fun running alongside a woman I couldn't seem to get away from for awhile who had the strangest running stride where she dug her toes into the pavement so every stride was loud and obnoxious. I am a smooth runner and I could not understand why she was making so much noise with her shoes.
I also couldn't help but spend some time wondering about the few women who ran in just sports bras with their tramp stamps showing, when really, it wasn't there best look. Do these people not have mirrors? husbands? friends that care about them? how does it happen that people walk out of their house like this thinking, yea, I'm totally rockin' this look??
I also enjoyed pondering the type of person that ran marathons and used this race as a training run. There were a handful of people that chose to run the 10 miles out to the starting point instead of being bussed out there, and then they ran the 10 mile race. There were also a few that I passed on the run that were heading back to the start point, so clearly they had already finished the 10 miles and now were running back. These were clearly marathon trainers. What posesses a person to want to run this much? I know how much time I have had to devote to training for the tri and this 10 mile run...I would have no life at all outside of preparing my body if I were to train for a marathon (which, mark my words, I will NEVER do!)
Anyway, back to my run...
After mile 3 I heard people saying the next 2-3 miles were the worst because it was a gradual incline, mostly on a dirt packed, gravely road. I honestly didn't even notice the gradual incline until the end when there was one steep hill that was pretty short with a water station right at the top so I thought it was fine.
Then I started hearing talk that it was "all down hill from here", and from mile 6-10 it was a gradual downward slope into Stillwater. Again, I didn't significantly notice the gradual downgrade, but I am sure it helped to make it a pleasant race.
At one hour I remember thinking, wow, I've run a whole hour already! And then thinking, wow, bummer, I still have to run for a good 40 more minutes at least. I think I lost a little steam with that realization and had to push through until I felt like I hit a new breathing stride right before 7 miles.
I felt good again until I hit 8 miles and then I was like, ok, I'm good! I'm done! I was bored and tired and over it. I started questioning why I do things like this and how I will never, ever run a 1/2 marathon, let alone another 10 mile race because I am not a distance runner and why in the world did I let H talk me into another sprint tri in Sept because I hate this and its not fun and I am bored and tired and I hate this!
I let myself wallow in that manner for a couple minutes and then I pulled myself back together.
I reminded myself that it was a ten mile race and I'd already gone 8 and we were talking less than 20 minutes of running left and I would be done, I could sooo do this, I had trained well and really I was not nearly as spent as I had felt in the run leg of the sprint tri and I had kept going then. I was just getting a little bored. I knew that I would be disappointed in myself if I didn't keep running.
So Forrest kept running. Finally I hit the 9 mile mark. Do you know how long 1 single mile is when you have already run 9 and all you want to do is cross the finish line and get it over with? Oh my goodness, so long! The last mile felt as long as the first 9 miles! I could see the general finish area. I had been running in between the 9.30 and 10 min mile pacers nearly the entire time so I knew I was right in front of my top goal of 1 hr. 40 min finish.
The last 1/4 mile I hear the 10 min pacer behind me, closing in! I tried to pick it up but I just couldn't. She closed in on me and I literally crossed the finish line with her, but that was a-ok with me...it meant my time came out literally exactly 1 hour 40 minutes and I was very proud that I ran the whole thing and maintained an average 10 minute mile stride for the entire thing.
Right as I crossed the finish I heard my sis, Maverick, call out to me, and then I see our friend, Brian, with my 7 yr old on his shoulders! What a special surprise! She had been camping with Iceman and her family nearby and they had come in to Stillwater and my girl got to see me cross the finish line after watching me work my butt off all these weeks running and working out. The specialness is most probably lost on her at her age, but hopefully when she is older she will remember how her mom worked for a goal and she got to watch me achieve it.
I really needed a mental minute right after finishing so I walked off a bit and stood in a water spray they had going. The set up was much better than the tri and there were bottles of water, chips, bananas, bagels, protein bars for us to replenish with, and I got to sit with my sis-maverick, my sil-iceman, my brother, friends Brian and Monica, one of my daughters, and four of my nieces and nephews for a while and just enjoy the end of the experience. It was really great and really special!
I really thought I'd be more sore, but I recovered nicely and even water ski'd the next day. I did not run for 3 days, but this morning I told myself that I needed to get out there and do it, don't get slack just because the race is over. So I headed out and did 4 miles and was very glad it wasn't 10. :)
Thanks for sharing in the 10 mile journey with me, its been a fun learning experience. Now, onto the next event!
Goose-Out
