AVID 5k recap

Once, there was a time when I never finished a race without two or three more on the calendar. Prior to this weekend, the last race I ran was nearly a year ago. And this one wasn't even my idea.

Eric and his coworkers decided to run a race a local high school (not the one in Serial, but very close to that one) was putting on to benefit a program they offer to students. Even though it wasn't my idea, it was just my style - maybe about 50 runners. Roll up, park ten feet from the finish line, no wait for the heated bathroom, run, and leave.

I was actually nervous about completing this race. Some of my running friends scoffed at that, but, in my experience, after having a baby none of my previous training mattered and I was building back from the ground up. Building exclusively on my nice warm treadmill. I'd run outside exactly twice since Dalton was born, and not a whole lot once the weather warmed up while I was pregnant. Also, with trying to get maximum use out of my Class Pass, I'd barely run at all in March.

But at least we tried him in the stroller for like, ten minutes.

I wasn't really prepared for a temperature of 31 feels like 23, crazy winds, actual hills (I don't touch the treadmill incline, it is probably stuck at zero for all I know), not to mention the fact that it was snowing throughout the entire race.

Race morning was different. Our top concern was figuring out how to dress Dalton to keep him warm, closely followed by pumping up our stroller tire. Since we don't have a weather shield, Eric was going to do a walk/jog with him bundled up in the car seat, in the stroller. It was a lot to push, so I thought he might want to cash in on this new trend to help his performance, but he wasn't interested. (Kidding, I would never waste that liquid gold.)

Dalton didn't even know he was outside.

On the way to the race, I realized I hadn't brought any electronics. I had no clue where my Garmin was, so I had known that was out, but headphones would have been nice. I had thrown a banana and my gloves in the bag though, so the really important stuff was covered.

I was actually really excited to start running. As soon as they said go, I "took off". I was pretty sure they forgot the first mile marker, similar to my thought process at mile 24 of a marathon. They hadn't. They also took my picture, which I'm guessing also looked similar to mile 24 of a marathon. Running outside is hard.

I think I was warmed up after that because the next two miles went faster. I had a bad feeling that the finish line clock was going to be a rude awakening, because it wasn't going to reflect the "sprinting" I felt like I was doing. I was correct. 28:16, aka about 9 minute miles, aka slower than my old marathon pace. Not quite a sprint. We'll call that a baseline.

After I regained the ability to breathe, I ran back on the course to find Eric and Dalton. A fellow stroller runner told me the tire had gone flat again right after the start. Womp womp. They'd been back at the school the whole time. I ordered another inner tube for it. Suggestions welcome.

 

I ran about 4.5 miles total. We refueled with bagels, and then it was naptime for the boys. Waiting in a school is exhausting.

We are finally sleeping with arms out at night! And by sleeping I mean not sleeping so much.

I really should have brought music because running without it gave me too much time to think. Which led to this happening.

It's ten weeks away, and I found a ten week training plan, so...

 

I even found my Garmin. Note the dust.

I can generally peer pressure others into joining me for questionable decisions so I immediately got moving on that. I met my friend Katharine in a training group. Our paces matched up naturally and we trained together for most of my first marathon. We had babies two weeks apart, and our kids started daycare on the same day, so it's a good match while we both try to fit a love of running into our new working mom life. There may be a few other special guests at the race, TBD.

Katharine, Carolyn and I before the 2010 Baltimore Marathon

The next day, I thought maybe I should try this whole outside running thing again. Also, more peer pressure when I found out my running buddy was in town.

 

 

#noexcuses

Off we go.

We ran five whole (hilly) miles and it was so much fun to catch up over a run. I forgot how much I liked it, and I wasn't as horribly slow as I expected to be (about 10:00 min miles).

It's looking like I'll have to re-introduce pitch black 5am outdoor runs into my life, and long runs, although my definition of "long" is quite different now.

Random question regarding the above linked article. Who out there has tasted breast milk (as an adult)? I did right away (like a drop, not drinking a cup) which I thought everyone did, but talking to some mom friends yesterday made me realize that isn't the case. I wanted to get a baseline in case there was ever a question about if it had gone bad. Also I was just curious. Eric won't even consider tasting it. Please share. No judgment even if you aren't a parent. We all get curious. If you think about it, it's much weirder that we drink cow's milk.