Gasparilla 15K

Three years ago I was at Gasparilla observing my very first race.  I think it was the half-marathon.  I stood there watching people heavier than I was run across the finish line and realized with tears streaming down my face that there was no reason I couldn't run.  Two years ago I had run two other 5Ks but was nursing a knee injury and couldn't run the Gasparilla 5K.  I went anyway and asked God why I couldn't run.  He said that I had walked about 20 minutes from my car to where I was standing and some people can't even do that.  Last year I ran the Gasparilla 8K.  Three weeks ago I ran the 15K.  Will I run the half-marathon next year?

It was warm for February three weeks ago, even in Florida.  The weather was also quite foggy.  My phone does not much more than calls and texts, so I rarely use it to take pictures.  I don't carry my camera with me on runs, though, so I had to use my phone to capture the foggy conditions on Bayshore Boulevard. 

My friend and fellow Ragnar teammate Rusty also ran the 15K.  At about the 8-mile mark (a 15K is 9.3 miles), I saw him standing in the middle of the street.  He had decided to stop and wait for me so we could run together.  I had settled into my comfortable slow pace and was slogging along.  He took my hand and pulled me (mentally and physically) the rest of the way.  He made me increase my pace and at one time I said I didn't think I could keep up that pace because of the stitch in my side.  Somehow I did, though, and we crossed the finish line at 2:08.  My actual time was 2:04:47, which gave me a pace of 13:23 per mile, which is slightly faster than my average lately.  If Rusty hadn't pushed/pulled me to increase my pace, I would've finished much slower and been disappointed in my time.  So thank you, Rusty, for pushing me to do better!

He and his girlfriend, also a Ragnar teammate, left the race and went skydiving.  Sheesh!  These athletes don't know when to quit, do they?!nish line and realized with tears streaming down my face that there was no reason I couldn't run. Two years ago I had run two other 5Ks but was nursing a knee injury and couldn't run the Gasparilla 5K. I went anyway and asked God why I couldn't run. He said I had walked about 20 minutes from my car to where I was standing and some people can't even do that. Last year I ran the Gasparilla 8K. Yesterday I ran the 15K. Will I run the half-marathon next year?

My friend and fellow Ragnar teammate Rusty also ran the 15K. At about the 8-mile mark (a 15K is 9.3 miles total) I saw him waiting in the middle of the street for me. I had settled in to my comfortable slow pace and was slogging along. He took my hand and pulled me (mentally, not physically) the rest of the way. He made me increase my pace and at one time I said I didn't think I could keep up that pace. Somehow I did, though, and we crossed the finish line at 2:08. My actual time was 2:04:47, which gave me a pace of 13:23 per mile, which is slightly faster than my average lately. If Rusty hadn't pushed/pulled me to increase my pace, I would've finished much slower and been disappointed in my time. So thank you, Rusty, for pushing me to do better!

He and his girlfriend, also a Ragnar teammate, left after the race and went skydiving. Sheesh! These athletes don't know when to quit, do they?!

I posted the above on Facebook the day after the race and here is Rusty's comment and then mine in response:

I give The Lord all the Credit for you told me are you more concerned about your pace and time or more concerned about finishing race with a teammate that needs you so don't give me the credit give the Lord all his credit and glory for he's one Who turned me around to come back to you

Then I thank God for telling you to turn around and come back to me and you for listening and obeying.

Two-A-Day Runs

Thursday

The Ragnar Relay Race is just over a month away and I'm feeling the self-imposed pressure to get faster and to run more.  I've run 7-8 miles a few times now but I'm not getting faster.  At one point I was telling my running team my whole weight loss/running story and I said that I used to not want to even walk one mile because the weather was too ho-o-o-o-o-t.  Then I started walking and running and now I eat 5Ks (3.1 miles) for breakfast!  Well now I'm starting to eat 10Ks for breakfast! 

According to the suggested training schedule Ragnar puts out, I should've started doing two-a-day runs in November to get used to running on tired legs.  I did walk in the evening about one mile after I had run in the morning but only once or twice.  This morning I ran 7.8 miles and my goal was to walk four miles this evening.  I forgot to start my timer when I started walking so I don't know how fast I did the first mile.  I started the timer at the 1-mile mark and was going to see how fast I could do the second mile and then see if I could beat that time on the third and fourth miles.  However, before I'd reached 1-1/2 miles it started to rain.  I love running or walking in the rain but I had to put my phone in my pocket so it wouldn't get wet and that caused the timer to stop.  It kept raining harder, which I loved, but I didn't want to ruin my phone so I cut it short and walked just over two miles.  Sigh.   

I'm going to run in the morning but only 4 miles.  I don't want to overdo it by trying to run another 7 or 8.  My Ragnar legs are 7-1/2 miles, 4 miles, and 2 miles.  I just want my body to be used to running on tired legs. 

Sunday

I didn't run on Friday like I said I was going to.  Ugh!  Sometimes it's just hard to make myself get out there and do it.  I ran with a friend this morning for 40 minutes, about 3 miles.  I've tried to do two-a-day runs for more than a month but all I can manage the second time out is to walk.  Better than nothing but…disappointing.  Maybe it was hard because the days I'd tried to run a second time I had run 8 miles the first time!  Since I did only 3 this morning I figured it was realistic to do a few more this evening.  I'm getting bored with my usual routes, though, and wanted something different so I went to the beach.  I love that I live in a place where I can go to the beach in January and run!  I determined to do 50 minutes, which would be about 4 miles.  I actually did 4-1/2 miles at a pace of 11:06!  I don't know how I got that pace since lately I've been running between 13 and 14 minutes per mile, but I'll take it!  I'm running again in the morning (in 9 hours) with a friend but I don't know how far.  We'll see what this body can handle after running twice today.  It's tired. 

 

An Unexpected 15K

It all started last Tuesday when a friend posted on our church's running team's Facebook page that she couldn't run a scheduled race due to another commitment.  She asked if anyone wanted to take her place.  I asked questions and checked the information about the race and the course.  When I first heard it was a 15K (9.3 miles), a distance I've never run before, I thought I could alternate running a mile and walking a mile and do it with no problem.  Then I found out that they have a 10K and a 5K and the challenge is to run one at 7:00 a.m. and then the other at 8:15 a.m.  Oh.  My two 10K times were between 1 hour and 20 minutes and 1 hour and 25 minutes, so that presented a problem.  With some input from my running partner and a couple other friends, I decided to try it.  If I wasn't able to run the 5K due to taking so long to run the 10K, that would be okay.  Usually Wednesday is one of my rest days from running, but since I now had a 15K to run in three days, I figured I'd better hit the pavement.  I like running two mornings a week in the dark with my running partner, but I realized I missed running a little later so I can see the sunrise.  There were some beautiful ones on those few training mornings!

 

I ran 3.1 miles on Tuesday, my usual distance, with no problem except the blinding sun in my eyes. 

 

 

 

At first I didn't like it, but my perspective changed after a few more times of turning and running into this BOOM SUN! It was the SON saying, "I'm here! I'm more present than this sun that's bothering you. I'm closer than this sun and you don't want Me to go away like you want it to!" No, Jesus, no I don't! Sometimes Jesus is like that - BOOM! IN YOUR FACE! and sometimes He seems far away in the sky and not bothering you. Yesterday, on my first training for this unexpected race, He needed me to know how close He was. :-)

I ran 4 miles on Wednesday, 5 on Thursday, and somewhere between 5 and 6 on Friday.  I tried for 6 but just ran out of steam.  I wasn't used to running so many days in a row, and increasing by a mile a day is a huge jump!  I knew I had done the best I could in such a short time, and God would have to do the rest.  On the way home, though, I started feeling like I should've pushed through then felt like I might have fainted from dehydration if I had.  I asked God, "Why do you keep throwing such big challenges in front of me?"  He answered, "Because I work on a large scale, Michele.  You can't do this on your own; only with my help."  If it was just an easy little 5K, which I do several times a week, no problem.  Even a 10K I've done twice now.  But a 15K, well…that's different.  And only 3 days to prepare for it?  Definitely God.   

This bench sums up my training:

The night before the race I was feeling my usual pre-race jitters.  I decided to pack the things I would need and a few more things just in case.  That took all of 10 minutes and did nothing to ease the nervousness.  I woke up on time, and my mom, daughter, and I made it down to the venue without being late.  I put my watch on and noticed that the band has started to crack. 

 

I got it as a birthday gift and it's had a good three-year run.  Time to shop for another one.  It still works and still straps on; I've just gotta "watch" it.  J  I picked up my race packet and warmed up my legs for the start of the 10K. 

I'm off and running!  It felt good to be among other athletes (it still feels weird to consider myself an athlete).  The race atmosphere was not making me run faster, though.  I walked about 1-1/2 minutes after each water station.  I'd get a cup of water and pour it on my head.  Then I'd get another cup or two to drink.  They had only Gatorade at the second station.  Gatorade = chemicals going into my body.  I started wondering why I didn't make my own Gatorade the night before.  I found a recipe for it on Pinterest and have made it before with only water, salt, Sucanat (less processed sugar), and fruit for flavor.  Well, there was nothing I could've done about it during the race.  I figured I was sweating and would be drinking enough water the rest of the day to flush out the chemicals.  Still…

About halfway through the second mile I smelled wood smoke.  BBQ!!!  Mmmmmm!!!  It was coming from the Saturday Morning Market.  I wanted to stay right there and just breathe, but I had a race to run. 

I saw no one I knew either running or lining the route except my friend's husband from church.  He's a policeman and was stopping traffic for the race.  I called his name and waved as I ran by.  He congratulated me, which carried me quite a while. 

As we rounded Mirror Lake, at about mile 3, I saw a woman ahead of me wearing a T-shirt that on the back said, "True strength is not giving up even when everyone would understand if you did." 

I told her if I had a camera I'd take a picture of it!  I continued running and finally made it past the farthest point I had gotten to in training.  I was in unfamiliar territory.  Well not really, since I was born in this city and have lived here my whole life, but I had never run and probably never even driven on this particular street.  My right foot felt like it was developing a blister, maybe from running on the slope of the road for 5 miles.  I tried to get more toward the middle.  We turned onto Coffee Pot Boulevard, which I've been running once a week for a few months.  I started to run faster the last 1/10 mile when I saw the finish line!  I made it in just under 1 hour and 25 minutes.  I walked straight to my mom and daughter,

took a big drink of water, got a square of Dove dark chocolate, and asked them if the 5K had already started.  One of them said it had and one said it had not because she never heard the announcement.  Okay.  The 5K *had* already started but I saw walkers just past the start line.  My feet hurt but I speed walked and half ran.  The chocolate didn’t seem to give me much energy but it sure tasted good!  I was trying to catch up to the back-of-the-pack walkers.  I wove around people with dogs, people with strollers, and people lined up 8-wide across the entire street.  Sometimes I had to walk because it was so crowded, sometimes because of fatigue, and sometimes because of drinking water.  At certain points I jumped up onto the sidewalk to get around people and sometimes jumped back down to the street for the same reason.  It was almost like an adventure run!  I finished in 2 hours 11 minutes and 41 seconds, but I didn't stop my watch the couple minutes between races.  I ran the 5K in roughly 43 minutes, slower than I usually do, but not bad considering how much walking I did.  I stopped where my mom and  daughter were but then went to get my medal. 

All the way through both races I was prepared for the fact that I might not get a medal because I wouldn't finish the 10K in time and then didn't make the official start of the 5K.  I told myself it was okay and that I had the personal satisfaction of doing a 15K with three days of preparation.  I walked up to the medal tent and they must've seen that my bib said 15K (I really hadn't compared my bib to others) and they gave me a 15K medal with no questions asked.  J  It made me very happy! 

Race organizers had set up about eight kiddie pools filled with ice and bottled water.  After making my way down the avenue of vendors and getting a massage (ahhhhh!), I walked back past the pools.  Several hours after being filled most of the ice had melted and almost all of the waters had been taken.  A few of the pools had just melted ice in them.  I bent down and soaked first one hand and the other in the icy water.  My feet were wet from having poured water on my head at each water station, so it was an easy decision to put first one fully shod foot and then the other in one of the pools!  It wouldn't have taken much to convince me to sit down!  I had brought dry socks and shoes but no dry clothes, so I just got my feet wet.  I stood there for a few moments until it got too cold and then I stepped out and went back to my family. 

We went to lunch at Cracker Barrel and I ordered protein to rebuild my muscles.  Eggs, sausage, and yogurt, along with a blueberry muffin for carbs, a strawberry on the yogurt parfait for yumminess, and sweet tea for...well, because it's sweet tea! 

Terry, thank you for not being able to run the race yourself and giving me another opportunity to let God work through me!  Like I said in my very first blog post, my reason for blogging is to encourage people to allow God to dream big within them so that together they and He can do amazing things, hard things, things that they'd never be able to do on their own.  And to encourage them to give Him the glory and credit for them.

Midnight 10K

I've kept putting this post off because something (like work) always came up that I needed to get done.  No more!  I'm finally writing!  Not that there's anything in this post that's super exceptional that I just have to record, but it keeps hanging over my head.  Unfinished business.  So here goes: 

 

On July 3 at about 9:00 at night a few family members and I headed north about 20 miles to Dunedin to the Kiwanis Midnight Run.  I ran the 5K last year and signed up for the 10K this year.  This was my first 10K since December, which was my first one ever.  I had run 6.2 miles in training a couple times but not a lot.  I felt prepared, though.  I picked up my race packet and shirt and was able to get one that was size large.  Not XL.  Not XXL.  Not XXXL.  Just L.   

 

Do you know how happy that makes me feel?!

The 5K started a little before midnight and the 10K started about 12:30.  I began the course running with my friend Lisa, but she quickly outpaced me.  Go Lisa!  I kept running at my happy pace.  Here comes a drawbridge.  So cool to run over the metal grate and see the water directly below me!  Ahhhhh!  Downhill!  Such fun!  A breeze!  Okay, now it's flat, hot, and humid again.  Blehh!  We headed toward Honeymoon Island State Park and, just like last year, it was nice to leave the city lights behind and run toward moonlight on the water and quietness.  The 5K runners turned around at some point and the 10Kers kept on running.  We entered the park and it got even quieter.  Mmmmmmm!!!  Love it!  There was less of a breeze now, though, because of woods around us.  Still nice.  I wanted to hear the quiet so I turned off my MP3 player.  I heard frogs so I quickly turned the music back on and made sure I stayed near the middle of the road.  I don't like am irrationally terrified of frogs.  They're disgusting, ugly, gross, and creepy, and I have my three younger brothers to thank for this irrational fear.  I know frogs can't hurt me, but I'd hurt myself trying to get away from one!  I moved to the center of the road so that if one was fool enough to jump onto the road from the shoulder, I'd see it (hopefully) and have time to scream and do a funny weird little dance to get out of its way. 

Ahem.  Moving on.  I tried a couple more times to run without music but all I heard was frogs.  At one point I felt a sharp pain in my knee, but I prayed and asked God to heal and strengthen it.  The pain was gone in a few steps.  Thank You, God! 

There were luminaries lining the road since there are no light posts out on the island.  Very pretty.  At the turnaround point there was a van parked sideways with a large American flag displayed on it and they were playing Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA (since it was July 4th).  Cool!  That gave me a little more momentum. 

 

I finished the 10K in 1:23:09 at a 13:23 pace.  That's almost a minute slower than the one I did in December, but this one was run at midnight after a full day of being awake and working (I got about a 2-hour nap in the afternoon).  I had run the first part of this course in last year's 5K, but otherwise it was unfamiliar.  I ran the December 10K course at least twice a week for a couple months in training, so I'm pleased with my results. 

Strawberry Race 2013!

I ran the Strawberry Distance Challenge yesterday morning!  It was just a 5K, a distance I do twice a week and I do even more on my longer days.  So why did I pay money and travel about 50 miles one way to do this race?  Because it was a STRAWBERRY race and I’m the Strawberry Queen, that’s why! 

 

I started by having my daughter paint my nails for the occasion.

 

Then I put on my chocolate-dipped strawberry earrings.

 

After I got to the race and picked up my registration packet, I put on the Dri-Fit shirt and had my picture taken with the strawberry guy. 

 

The start and finish lines were not at the same location, so I got my mom situated at the finish line and then I walked a good ½ mile to the start line.  On that walk I stepped down off a curb and felt pain in my right knee.  God, please heal and strengthen both knees and my ankles so that I don’t get hurt.  (I realized on the way home that I never had another pain in any part of my body after that!  Thank You, God!)  At the start line I felt happy and energized to be running in another race.  I love my runs with Melisa twice a week and my runs where it’s just God and me, but there’s excitement when I’m running a real race!  They had someone pray before the race began.  Cool!  And we’re off!  I’m running.  With the sun in my eyes.  This is why I like my very early morning runs, before the sun comes up. It didn’t last long, though, and we turned a corner.  People started passing me, as usual, which was okay except that I had a goal in mind for this race.  I wanted to pass at least five people.  At some point I passed two walkers.  Okay, technically I passed people, but they were walkers so do they really count?  Actually, I didn’t even keep count of the people I passed, I just tried to find people and pass them.  I saw a father and his young son and passed them but then they passed me and then I passed them, etc.  I imagine that father’s ego didn’t want a woman to pass him and his son so they sped up.  Oh well. 

Let me back up to the 1-mile mark.  I was at 11:44 at that point.  What?!  I usually do a mile in about 13 minutes.  Sadly, my first thought wasn’t that I was running faster but that the measurement of my distance at home must be off.  L  Then I did the calculation of when I should be at mile 2.  Just before 23:30.  At mile 2 I was at 24:09, 40 seconds slower than I wanted to be.  Sigh.  Keep running, Michele.  At least you’re still running. 

I recovered from that little letdown and just enjoyed running.  We were running through a very nice subdivision in Plant City called Walden Lake.  We passed a little pond and I looked at it wondering if I would see an alligator.  If I did, would I say something and freak out the other runners?  Should I say something even if there isn’t an alligator and see what people do?  (hee hee!)  Run, Michele. 

I saw a woman who was bigger than I am now but not as big as I was before I started losing weight.  And she was ahead of me.  Ooohh!  Now she’s walking!  I can overtake her!  Closing in…getting closer…almost there…What?!  She started running again.  Aarrgghh!!  That happened a few times but I finally caught up to her.  I said, “Every time I try to pass you, you start running again!”  She said, “I’ve never run this far before!”  I told her good for her and that she was doing great.  Run, Michele. 

At some point the scripture “My lungs expand with His praise” entered my mind.  (Psalms 34:1 – MSG).  I remembered that and breathed deeper, letting my lungs fill up with more fresh air and my mind fill up with more praise to the God who made the air and my lungs. 

The whole time I was running I felt strong.  Not strong like

But strong like alive

I crossed the finish line in 38:19!  That’s 6 seconds faster than I texted some people this morning.  There’s always a difference between gun time and chip time, and 38:25 was what my watch said.  I’ll take 38:19! 

My info is a little past the middle, at #675, my bib number.  I came in 10th out of 17 women in my age group.

They always have water, bananas, and sometimes other food for the runners after a race.  This is what they had for us today!

 

This was as good as any medal to me!

I high-fived the strawberry guy!

 

I got a ribbon!  I’ve never gotten a medal, ribbon, certificate, or anything like that from any of the 7 or so races I’ve done.  And I got strawberries! 

This was one of the most fun races I’ve ever run, and I'll definitely be making it an annual event! 

Now I train for the Gasparilla 8K in two weeks.

 

 

 

 

My First Trail Run!

I did my first trail run on January 13!  It was the Kiwanis Honeymoon Island Adventure Run.  They had a 5K and a 5-mile run with a combined start.  Everyone ran the 5K and then those who had registered for the 5-mile continued on to the beach and back for a total of 5 miles. 

It was a beautiful but unseasonably warm morning (mid to upper 60s). 

I had run only 3.1 miles with my running partner Melisa three times in the last couple weeks so I wondered if I had the stamina to do a longer run.  I did.  J  My daughter and I drove to the park a week or so before the race to get an idea of the course but it wasn’t well marked on the map and we ran only about 4 minutes.  Unfamiliar territory is unfamiliar territory for me!  I like to know what to expect and I didn’t know what to expect going into this run except that it would be on trails.  I love woods and I’ve walked plenty of trails, but I didn’t know THIS trail.  Now I really wish I had been able to run it because I didn’t expect there to be loose sand on a portion of it. 

By a portion I mean about 1-1/4 miles.  :-O  And not on the beach, either!  The first mile was Florida soil (sand) with a covering of pine needles.  Nice. 

Except for the occasional pile of pine needles that could be slippery. 

Not bad though.  Gotta watch out for exposed roots.

I was at 11:something at the 1-mile marker.  11:something?!  I’m ahead of schedule!  I usually do a 13:something mile!  Mile 2 and a good portion of mile 3 were loose sand.  Ugh.  I ran on the edge as much as I could where there was vegetation and that helped some but not a lot.  I was tempted to walk but I didn’t! 

Some spots had nice green grass to run on.  Ahhhh! 

I got through that and the trail turned to muck and deep ruts.  This isn't a picture of the worst of the ruts.  That was on a part of the course I didn't take the time to get to afterward.  They were much worse than this, covered the entire road, and were very slippery.

It wasn’t really mud because we haven’t had rain in a while, but the ruts in the road still had enough moisture that there was slippery muck.  I ran on the edge there as much as possible too but sometimes had to run right through it.  

Mmmmmmmm…natural Florida!

 

As I was approaching the staging area

and the end of the 5K, I thought, “Okay, Michele, you can stop here if you want to.”  It wasn’t so much a temptation to stop as it was just a thought.  My response was, “Why would I stop now?”  The only part left was the beach portion.  I really enjoy running on the beach and haven’t done it in quite a while so I was looking forward to it.  Oh, somewhere in the first mile a lot of people started passing me.  I’m used to it and it doesn’t bother me.  Farther along, though, I couldn’t hear anyone behind me and I kept thinking I was the very last person.  I wasn’t happy about that, but someone has to be last and at least I was still running. 

I continued on to the beach with almost 2 miles left to go and lots of people were coming BACK from the beach.  Sigh.  Again, I’m not trying to win any of these races and I know lots of people are younger, faster, and fitter than I am.  I’m not competing against them but there’s still a tiny bit of a letdown when I actually SEE them being younger, faster, and fitter than I am.  Oh well.  Keep running.  I expected to have to run through loose sand to get to the packed sand at the beach.  I didn’t expect to have to run through rocks. 

Yes, rocks.  I also didn’t expect to have to run on such a slant. 

It was much more of a slant than I’ve run on at beaches before.  Oh well.  Keep running.  I was sure I was the last one now.  As I FINALLY approached the turn-around point I said to the volunteer, “I may be last, but at least I’m still running.”  She said, “You’re not last.”  After I turned I saw someone behind me.  Then another.  Then two more.  I counted 12 people on the last portion of the run who were behind me.  I wasn’t last!  I made it through all those rocks and gave the other side of my body a workout on the slant.  Almost to the finish line! 

I ran past the clock at 1:08:59,

which gave me a pace of 13:48 per mile.  That’s 30-45 seconds slower than I usually run, but I usually run on familiar flat roads, not unpredictable natural surfaces on an unfamiliar course.  I’m not disappointed at all.  I’m sore, but I’m not disappointed! 

I Ran My First 10K!

Here's Calvary Chapel's Running Team before the race:

We all gathered at the start line, 5Kers and 10Kers in a combined start.  I was excited when they asked the 10Kers to move to the left (the faster lane!) before the race began. And we're off! I had adrenaline helping me get up the hill and for the first 1 or 2 tenths of a mile. Then my body protested. It usually does, especially at the beginning of an actual race when my pace is determined by adrenaline and the people around me. At first it's really slow, almost a walk, then I match the people running nearby. That never lasts more than a minute, though! I soon settled into my normal pace. People began passing me, but that was okay. I wasn't trying to win. We rounded a corner and neared the bridge. The Bridge. The Huge Bridge. The huge bridge that I've run a dozen times. Before the race there was heavy fog, so much that we couldn't see the bridge from the park and it's very close. As I crested the bridge I looked out to see the water but I couldn't see it because the fog was so thick.

This isn't an actual picture of it since I didn't have my camera with me and wouldn't have stopped during an actual race to take a picture anyway. It was this thick, though.

I was a little sad about not being able to see God's creation of sky and water. He then reminded me that fog is His creation too. Oh yeah. It is! He was closer to me, enveloping me, than if I had been able to see and marvel at His other creations like I was expecting to. He reminded me that pilots learn to fly by sight and then by what their instruments tell them even when they can’t see the sky/horizon/earth. I was running by faith, not able to see much of what was around me but knowing it was still there.

Downhill was not as fun with hundreds of people around. I couldn't open up as much as I would've liked. We approached the 5K turnaround. I felt like part of an elite club when I continued on and didn’t turn around. J

I wasn't paying attention to my music as much with so many people around. People were passing me but I didn’t mind (too much). We turned north at the roundabout. The directions and map said that the 10K turnaround was a little past Bay Esplanade so I went about a block past in training. Apparently “a little” to the race organizers is about *4* blocks! That added another minute or two to my total time. Wait. If that added a minute or two to my time and if I finished 42 seconds faster than the one and only time I ran the entire distance in training, then I finished quite a bit faster than expected! I used the calculator on my phone and it said that my pace was 13:22 instead of 13:30 like it had been, but that’s incorrect. Well, not incorrect; actually I interpreted it incorrectly. First, I didn’t take into account what I just told you about the longer distance and shorter time. Second, I forgot to convert seconds (time) to tenths (distance). Or something like that. 82 minutes divided by 6.2 miles equals 13.22, which is 13 minutes and 12 seconds per mile, not 13 minutes and 22 seconds. So I went faster in addition to going longer! I like that!

Somewhere around mile 3-1/2 I felt like I could go on like this forever. That almost always happens but not always in the same place. The first few seconds I run I feel powerful. Then my body realizes what I’m requiring of it and protests. NO!!! STOP NOW!!! When I don’t stop, my body realizes it better kick it into gear. It does, in its 43-year-old obese way. Then I tend to stay in that zone for the majority of the run except for some occasional bursts of speed that last for a few seconds.
At about mile 4-1/2 a lady said she liked the back of my shirt:

 

 

Going up the bridge at mile 5 was tough, as it always is. I didn’t slow to a walk, though. It might have looked like I did, but I didn’t. J I went down the spiral thinking that this race was almost over. As I crested the last uphill the woman in front of me turned around and asked if I was Michele Ervin. She is a member of my church’s running team but we had never met. We ran the last 0.3 miles together, which was nice.

As I turned the last corner and began the downhill path to the finish line (I love that they structured the course that way!), I saw my family and friends waiting! That and the downhill slope caused me to run faster!

I even disconnected the cord from my MP3 player, raised both arms into the air, and ran that way for a few yards! Victory! My first 10K completed without injury! I'll do another post when I get some more of the pictures they took. 

I crossed the finish line at 1:21:58 according to my watch. 

 

The official records say 1:22:10.  I came in 56th out of 61 women in my age group in the 10K.  I didn't finish last!  I came in 613th out of 638 total runners in the 10K. 

People say that we need to get out of the way and let God work, but I think many people don't know how to do that. It can be difficult to understand what our responsibility is and what God's responsibility is and not get the two confused. In running it's a little easier than it may be in other situations. I know I have to dress appropriately, move my feet, pump my arms, make my lungs expand, practice, set goals, push myself, etc. Then when race day comes I have to take my concerns that I'm not fully prepared, set them aside, and let God do what He does best. Show Himself. He didn't show his power in making it so that I won the race or even my age group, and I didn't expect Him to. I won by running faster than this woman

That makes me a winner in my opinion no matter what the official results say.  J