Monday, July 18, 2011

Lunar Rendezvous 5k Race Recap

This past Saturday I ran the 33rd Annual Lunar Rendezvous 5k race out at Space Center Houston.

Let me just preface this by saying this was not a good race for me. 

Let me also get all of my complaints out of the way and blame this on Sean. It was hot. It was humid. It was about to rain (seriously, it started raining about 10 minutes after I finished running). I got no sleep because Sean was out with the guys and I waited up to make sure he got home in one piece which means I went to sleep at 2am and got up at 5:30am. (Ok, it isn't Sean's fault, but I was really tired.)


See how gross that weather looks?!

Complaining over, this just was not a good race for me.

For one, I started out way too fast. 


I ran the first mile in 7:13 (who am I?!).

The first 1.5 miles were OK. I felt ok, but not great. By about mile 1.75 my head left the race. I wasn't into it, I didn't feel great, and I was running way too fast for me. I couldn't slow down. And I mentally gave up. And I walked for about 30 seconds. My pride died right then, I've never walked during a race before. How I can run 18 miles and be OK but walk during a 5k race is beyond me. 

Needless to say, even with my 30 second walk, I ran the second mile in 7:15 (yeahhhh.... I was running wayyyy too fast)

And then I mentally shut down. I've never even come remotely close to walking in a race before. Everyone talks about how running is a mental sport - it is.

I walked twice more after that. I didn't want to be there anymore. I didn't want to run. I just wanted to go home and cry. Was I being overly dramatic? Yes. Did I care? No.

When I slowed down for the third time (I was less than 4/10's of a mile away from the finish) a guy ran up to me and said "NO". And he paced me in the rest of the way. What a miracle worker. I could have hugged him I was so happy that he showed up when he did. Here's a tragic picture of me finishing:



The irony?

I PR'd.

Go figure.

I also came in fourth in my age group, which I don't want to talk about because if I hadn't stopped three separate times I would have placed somewhere in the top 3. 

All I wanted out of the race was to beat my PR. My PR was currently held at 23:18 BUT the course was only 3 miles, not a full 5k. I finished this 5k (and it was the full 5k) in 23:14

And then I ran 18 glorious miles on Sunday. GO FIGURE.

7 comments:

  1. I pretty much hate 5ks, give me distance any day :)

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  2. Girl, lack of sleep and the ridiculous humidity (with a storm a'brewin', I just know it was even more ridiculous than usual), AND still a PR?!?! Your PR is a testament to your skill and training! I'm proud of you!!! =)

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  3. You did awesome under the conditions. Just think what you would've done if you had gotten more sleep, the humidity was better, etc. We all have rough runs but I think they make us stronger.

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  4. it happens to the best of us...i am very proud of you though, and will be running with you in future races :) i love you so much

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  5. woo hoo! Congrats!
    The funny thing is I don't think you went out THAT fast. Keep up that pace under better conditions and you're at a 22:30 or something which you are totally gonna do soon :).

    I love that you run-walked a 5k to your PR. haha.

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  6. Congrats!!! I ran a 10k yesterday and about died with the heat and humidity! It was bad news! But, I finished!

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  7. Congrats! You know, I often find that the first 3 miles kill me! I used to run 10+ miles with no problem, but those 5ks get me everytime! I think it definitely goes back to that mental stuff!

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