First of all...Happy 4th of July! Thank you to all our soldiers who are fighting for our freedom that we are so blessed to have!
Days like today are the reason I keep running. I ran the annual Alliant Energy 8K race this morning and it went well. This was my 6th time running this particular race AND the fastest I've ever run it or any other 8K! Let me give you my history at this race...
2004: First time running it, 45:56. I probably would have run under 45, but I got a horrible blister on my heel in the FIRST mile. It was very painful and I was glad to finish.
2005: Ran a good race in 43:34, was happy about it.
2006: Wanted to BEAT that 43:34 time. Guess what? I didn't beat it, I just got EXACTLY the same time AGAIN! I was not happy! I mean, couldn't I have run it in 43:32 at least?
2007: Ran it in 42:39 and was over the moon! I was so pumped to have broken 43 minutes!
2008: I had just run a 40:38 at a previous 8K, so I wanted to run somewhere close to that time. I ran a 40:55 and was happy with it...considering I had run an 18 miler the day before. (But, that's not much of an excuse, considering my friend Carrie had also run 18 miles and rocked a great race!)
2009: I wanted to break 40 minutes. If that meant crossing the finish line in 39:59, I would have been overjoyed. I ran it in 39:24! It was the best feeling seeing the clock and knowing I was going to bust through 40 minutes.
I went to bed ready for a good race... I woke up to rainy, depressing weather. Yuck! Now, I know there are many of you who just LOVE running in the rain. While the temperature was good for running, I am NOT a fan of being wet and running around in sloshy shoes. Also, if you've met me, you know I have about 10 pounds of hair on my head. Imagine running with 10 pounds of WET hair, no fun!
As I approached the start line, I was still hoping to break 40, but I'll admit, I was ready with my excuses if I didn't... "I ran 12 miles yesterday," "I'm tired," "It was rainy..." Blah, blah, blah!
I took off at what felt like the right pace. I hit mile 1 just over 8 minutes. Mile 2 must have been fast as the clock showed 15 something. Mile 3 in this race is difficult as you are headed uphill and then around the curve in a park. As you exit the park, it's uphill and you are just waiting for the long downhill. I kept my focus and tried to run strong. I hit 4 miles in just under 32 minutes, so I knew it was still possible to break 40 minutes.
But, I'd have to really bust out this last mile. It's a long straight away and I was tired. I was really tired... I started telling myself it would be ok if I hit around 40, I'd still PR.
As I passed a guy holding an "800 meters to go" sign, I thought, "I can do this!" Once I could see the clock and that there were no 4's on it, I kicked in as much as I could. Woohoo!
So, back to my point, about days like today being why I keep running. I love meeting goals and seeing improvement! Two of my running goals this year were to break 25:00 in the 5K and break 40:00 in the 8K. My new 5K PR is 24:25 and for the 8K, 39:24!
If you had told me 5 years ago that I'd be running sub 8:00s in ANY distance, I would have laughed you out of the room! It's not that I wasn't confident, it's that I thought I knew my pace and that that was it. Our bodies are amazing and running proves it!
I realize sub-8:00s is not break-neck speed for many people, but it IS for me. If I can be faster 5 years later, what will I be able to do in 5 more years? You never know! Maybe breaking 40 minutes in the 8K is good luck for me to break 4 HOURS in my next marathon? Here's hoping!
