Saturday, March 22, 2014

Spring Fling 10K That was Really a Winter Fling 10K


If I focus on the weather I can ignore the fact that I am so much slower even with all the training I have done.  As I was racing I was definitely doing some self talk to be positive.  I never like finishing a race disappointed to the point where I don't like racing. I did accomplish that!

I raced a 10K today that is called  a spring fling.  Apparently last year it was 74 degrees.  Today not so much. It was 31 and a cold 31 at that.  I wore pants and 3 layers on top. I walked back to my car to get my neck fleece.  I was probably a bit over dressed but not drastically.  The problem was sitting around wet after and then having to walk half a mile to the car all sweaty in the freezing cold.

There were a decent number of people there.  My miles were all over the place from 9:22 to 10:41.  It was a hilly course but  a pretty one.  I had 3 goals and met one of them. Oops.

Goal #1. Finish in under an hour.  Nope!
Goal #2. Once I saw I wasn't going to do that I focused on finishing under 10 minute miles. Nope. But close and I picked it up in the last couple miles to finish with a pace of 10:02.
Goal #3.  Not to be last.  Yes!  I did this. Some day I will be last and I'll need to be okay with that.

As I was racing I reminded myself that I love racing. I do.
I reminded myself I wasn't home sitting on the couch.
I reminded myself that I was trying and I had nothing to be ashamed of.
I felt fine when I finished.  Then a young woman came up to me and told me I passed her and she could not catch up to me. Then I felt even better!

I did not win my age group although the person right ahead of me was the only other person in my age group!  I did win a random prize.

After I did two errands, one of which was to leave my bike off for a tune up! Some day spring will really come and I'll be able to ride. I got my other errand done and my lovely son called and we went out to lunch together.  We were both freezing!  Then we went back to his house where I promptly sat on the couch and didn't move for about 3 hours. I watched Love It or List It and each time a new one started I had to stay to find out what they were going to do.  Third world problems......which gorgeous place do we live in?

Jaxon snuggled with me some and I may have slept some. I never took off my coat or headband. I am finally warmed up and less tired.

But all in all.....a very good day.

14 comments:

Ransick said...

Congrats on your race!

My wife and I watch a lot of Love It or List It too :-)

Laurie said...

Great race. I only wish I could run a 10 min. mile. I'm working on it. It just isn't coming that easy. Have a great weekend!

Amy said...

Just reading this, I can feel the cold. I wish spring would come for you, too. Good job on the race - sometimes just getting it done is a victory. Hope you're feeling warmer!

Anonymous said...

Woah - that definitely looks wintery. I think Mother Nature is on vacation...

christa said...

It wasn't 70 degrees last year it was cold last year. Check out my blog for recaps.

Darlene said...

Sure can identify with your feelings. Congrats for getting out there on a cold windy day.

Char said...

What's with the weather? It's crazy that you're still under snow so late into March. And it's crazy that we're still sweltering and having to use fans at night.

Well done on the race. I'll bet that quite a few people didn't bother to show up when they saw the weather. But not you - you're hard core.

Giorgio said...

Great race! huge congrats considering the cold windy day.
Enjoy the rest of this Sunday!

Johann said...

Great race, well done! Definitely more of a winter run that. I should do a 10km race. Haven't in a long time.

Kate Geisen said...

I don't think you're going to have to worry about being last. Your "slow" miles are only slow to YOU...they're plenty fast for other people!

I HATE that feeling when the running warmth evaporates and all you're left with is your sweaty clothes and FREEZE. You definitely had it worse than me even if our temps were slightly colder.

Half Crazed Runner said...

So tired of running in the cold. Can't wait to be able to strip the layers! I always feel your less tired when you don't have to fight the cold and wind with all those layers!

Fran said...

Well done! I'm so happy that we a) didn't have a cold winter and b) Spring has already arrived here. But that makes me admire you even more for going on and don't let the cold weather get to you.

Black Knight said...

Your goal n° 3 will be mine forever!
Good job: cold and hilly, not the best situation for a run, but you did it! Congrats.

Tina @GottaRunNow said...

Random prizes are fun and so is meeting even one of your goals. Congrats on finishing that chilly race!