Yesterday was the big race day. Finally. This whole thing started as me trying to not die. I have high cholesterol because my genes hate me (although I love my jeans) so I decided I would start to eat better. That may or may not have worked as I didn't re-check my cholesterol, but decided that I would supplement eating healthier with running as well. So it was about mid-April when I started running, just as the weather was getting nice in the city. If you've heard me talk about running before, you know I used to hate it. I couldn't think of anything more boring. So as usual, I would run a mile and call it quits mostly out of boredom but also because I don't think I could run more than a mile and a half. Time went by and I started increasing my distance and by July, I was running around 3 miles, probably 3 times a week.
One day I decided I would keep running and see how far I would get before I actually got tired and it ended up being 6 miles. Naturally I was so excited about my run, the first thing I did was update my facebook status to flaunt to the world what a great runner I had become. This was back in mid-August. Brown Guy saw said update, congratulated me and then told me I should do the half-marathon. At first I was hesitant but after learning his girlfriend, Dragonlady, would also be running it, I immediately jumped at the chance to beat her in something.
So after training for about 3 months and working up my stamina, the big day finally came. I set a goal for 2:10:00 which is about a 10 minute mile average. So I trained at a 10 minute pace and felt very well prepared for the race. So yesterday I woke up at 5, at breakfast, met Brown Guy and Dragonlady at their hotel, then took the requisite pre-run picture and we were off. A picture perfect sunrise over Detroit as we ran across the bridge to Canada was a moment that I hope I never forget. I kept chugging along and soon enough I had finally hit the 12 mile mark. At this point a pace runner came by me holding a sign that said 10:18 meaning that the first group out would have been averaging that and since I was not in the first group, I figured I'd be around 10 minutes, but pushed myself for that last mile just in case. I felt I had some energy left in me so I ended up running and then as soon as I saw the straightaway and the finish line I went into an all out sprint. Being the dolt that I am, I did this much too early and got very tired, but not wanting to look like a loser in front of the spectators lined up for the last quarter mile, I kept on sprinting and crossed the finish line pretending all the cheers in the crowd were for me as I passed a good couple hundred people at the end.
Even though I finished ahead of that pace guy, I still somehow ended up with a 2:18:05 which I'm okay with, but Dragonlady killed me. It was an amazing experience and I am now hooked. I'm hoping to re-up and do a couple of these a year. If anyone is thinking about doing it or thinks in their mind that it sounds like something cool, I can't recommend it enough. It's fun and good for you and there aren't too many of those things in the world. I went from hating running to loving it in 6 months and if I can do it, anyone can.
Go big or go home. I'm going to break 2hrs next time.
-M, p, z & shredder
No comments:
Post a Comment