In an effort to get me into the gym and get me to my goal weight, I decided to run. Not just any run, a 1/2 marathon in May. I signed up for some shorter road races in between now and then. The first was the St. Paddy's Day 5. It was a shocking 5 miles rather than 5 kilometers (aka 3.1 miles). It was a flat course and I knew I could at least finish it.
Because this is a qualifying race for Bloomsday, it brought out many runners. Like the kind that do a quick mile to warm up before the 5 mile race actually starts. Maybe someday I'll be that person, but let's face it, I'm lucky I remembered to stretch my hamstrings and grab my iPod.
While I picked up my number for the race on Saturday, I was at a local running store. It's THEE store to go to for anything running. I found a Nike sensor for the Nike ID thing. Basically you have this sensor that goes into your shoe and it talks to your iPod as you run. It will calibrate your pace, your distance, etc. You can set it to tell you when you've reached a certain distance or time. It also has settings for 1/2 marathons! I love it. You can also stream your playlist through the program so you can listen to music as you run. Then you can upload that information onto a website and track your performance. It will tell you your fastest mile, fastest 5k, farthest run, etc. For an analyst mind like mine, I love it.
My favorite feature is the "Powersong." You can select any song from your iPod library and set it as your Powersong. When you're running uphill, with the wind at your face, you push the "Powersong" button and your inspirational song will play and you get your second wind to make it up that hill.
Around the 4.5 mile mark, I was coming into the end, the wind was against me and I felt like each step only moved me a centimeter. I hit my Powersong, which happened to be Eye of the Tiger by Survivor. Nothing screams Powersong to me more than that song. Maybe Chariots of Fire but that one isn't on my iPod.
I came cruising into the finish line at 1 hour and 2 minutes. I didn't think was terribly bad considering I had zero training. My Nike ID thing said I ran a 12:30 minute mile. I'm proud of that.
What's even better, I made my goal of passing the 1 mile marker before someone won the race. I actually think I was close to the 2 mile mark before someone won. That's even better! There is something totally discouraging to see the people coming back to finish as you're passing the mile one marker. My shirt is the same as theirs!
In other race news, Zoe ran her first race of the season. A 300 meter run! She loved it. We made a race shirt the night before for her to wear. She ran and walked some as she's still got a bit of a cough. At the end, she received a ribbon and a t-shirt that matches mine. As you can assume, we played "race" all night around the house!
Here's to making it to the gym more between now and April!
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