First Race – Check!

Posted on by

91

It’s done, it’s over. I’m still alive.

Today I ran my furthest run ever. The Race for Life 10k.


I’ve posted about why I started running back in February (click to read) & I have been nervous about this race possibly since I signed up (and then even more so when someone mentioned the “huge hill” I had no idea about!) So when today came around, I definitely had a fair few butterflies kicking about.

I guess a lot of the nerves come down to the fact that it was my first ever race. Something tells me I should have started with something such as, oh a 5k, but I like a good challenge.

Looking special.

10am came around quickly, I had been there since 9am, pinning on signs, being excited / nervous and generally wondering where on Earth this route was going to take me.

A good thing that calmed my nerves was that it is “Race For Life,” it’s family friendly & women of all abilities showed up. It made me feel more relaxed but in between that and a “funky feet” warm up I don’t think my head was completely where it should have been by the time I was at the “Start” point.

"Warm up" or, make yourself look like an idiot.

My "WTF is Funky Feet?" face.

I got the choice of “Runners,” “Joggers,” and “Walkers.” … I can’t be on Team Bangs on the Run  and not opt for the Runners column, so off I went after a split decision to join them.

Starting point.

Amazingly Vicky, an old friend of my Dads & mine, found me at the start, it wasn’t long before we lost each other (she was fast!) but it was so nice to see a friendly face there who was doing the same thing.

Then I was on my own. 

The very first part of the course was up-hill. That, did not fill me with confidence, but I kept going. I stuck to my run four minutes, walk quickly one for the first part but it didn’t take long for me to realise just how difficult this was about to be. Training inside and running outside are two completely different things.

1k – 2k I ran up the hill, full of adrenaline and spurred on by all the other female runners, I tried to keep up, but I knew I needed to be true to myself and stick to what I’d practised. It was between these two km’s that I realised, “Wait a minute, why are these km’s so far apart?” I felt like I’d been running forever but the distance between the sign posts wasn’t getting any shorter.

3k – 4k I was pacing with a girl by this point, we were just about running at the same pace and I settled into a nice routine. Still, I was panicking that the km’s were seriously further apart than I thought. I was about 30 minutes in and beginning to struggle, but by 4k I  had my boyfriend cheering me on, the first friendly face so far, that definitely kept me going.

5k – 6k I had grabbed a drink at the 3 mile point and my confidence in finishing the race any time soon was out of the window. I think I even gave the water-girl a look of “why the hell am I doing this?”. I felt like I should have finished, but no. I was slipping further back and probably being over-taken by people who started in the jogger group – but then finally, a down hill part! I was so pleased, I ran down the entire thing, not paying attention to my run four, walk one system.

7k – 8k Where was 7k? Up the biggest hill I’d ever seen. I had just run down to be forced back up again. I remember giving out a massive sigh & “ffs” whilst talking to myself. I’d just ran through mud, been over taken by a small child and didn’t feel like I could take much more. I checked my Nike+ sportsband,“5.7 miles” it said, lies, I was nowhere near finished. 8k also saw the presence of my inhailer that I’d been carrying in my butt pocket. Defeat & tears that were wanting to come out resulted in some difficult breathing.

9k – THANK THE LORD! My hair had fallen out of place, I was splattered with mud, my legs were cramping, I couldn’t breathe, I was pretty much a big, hot mess, but seeing that sign and “Time” by Chase & Status blasting out of my iPod  spurred me on completely to give the last km all I had. The route meant you came out round a corner, the first person I saw was Vicky, she had finished, I kept running, people were clapping, the DJ was talking crap, I kept running…

10k – Could This Be Real? – Sub Focus starts up, I am actually questioning whether this whole thing is real and I’ve actually nearly finished. I see my boyfriend, try to smile for the camera, clearly got distracted something, shiny? I dont know. I see my dad, my grandma, my uncle, my cousin & a curly haired little dog. By then, I’d done it, I had passed the finish line! My dad shouts “keep running!” – no thanks, I’d passed, I couldn’t wait to stop. 1hr 15 minutes of running, jogging, walking, struggling. I was done.

I went on to the end and picked up my medal and goody bag, plus a bottle of water they had been ranting about all day – that got drank quicker than I could say “Hi” to anyone.

Then came some tears. I’m not sure if it was disbelief, relief or just every emotion from that day hitting me in the face, but either way, they were mainly happy tears and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one there that shed a few.

I said bye to everyone and shuffled on back up the hill to the car park.

It was over.

My name is on there!

I’m so happy I did it, it was a bigger struggle than I expected, why? well I’ll post that another day.

Right now, its all about relaxing and eating foods I haven’t eaten for the past couple of months I’ve been training (mm, pizza)

All in all, a great, eye-opening experience.

Heres to the next one xo

http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/samantharaceforlife2011

91 thoughts on “First Race – Check!”

  4. that is awsome. good for you running the 10km. personally i would of gone with the walkers or joggers i can barely run too miles with out getting extremely tired. congrats on being freshley pressed. visit my site pls!!! i need comments.

    Reply

  8. Great post! I love the km-by-km reliving. I still remember my first ever race in grade nine (four years ago) was only 3KM and I had practically died LOL.

    Reply

  9. Congrats – you did your 1st marathon. I do not like to run unless chased, so I do not see a marathon in my near future. I would rather bike 25 to 50 miles instead of run. Thanks for sharing – Congrats on being FP!

    Reply

  11. Wow! Thank you all so much! Complete shock to be on Freshly Pressed but I’m very grateful for all your lovely comments :) it was a difficult but great first race & I definitely recommend giving it a go. I’ve gone from a coach potato to half marathon training and its a wonderful journey that I am loving!

    Thanks for the support :) xx

    Reply

  12. Very inspiring and congrats on finishing the race and getting freshly pressed. I was training to go into the army reserves and discovered I really love to run (once I learned the right way!) but then I got pregnant…(so no Reserves) … I’m hoping to pick back up with running once I’m given the all clear after delivery and maybe I’ll look at doing a marathon…thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  13. This is so great! I love how you described each kilometer. You’ve summed up everything I feel during a race – but doesn’t the finish feel fantastic?! Congrats!!

    Reply

  16. great job! i think it’s almost better to start with a longer race, my first race ever was a half-marathon, and somehow i survived it. now i can’t stop :) i have a training schedule on my blog if you want to check it out. good luck with the next one!

    Reply

  18. I am so proud of you! I am contemplating starting running in the fall, because this Arkansas heat is just so overwhelming for running right now. I hope to train to be able to run a race in 2012. Congratulations on finishing, and also for making the WordPress freshly pressed page! I will subscribe to your blog to get more inspiration soon :)

    Reply

  21. Oh wow! Congrats on the 10K! I’ve only walked a 5K before and I’m aiming to run my first one in early September for the Komen Race for the Cure in memory of my dear friend who passed away a year ago after fighting breast (later it moved to her liver) cancer for eight years. I hope I can make it through. At the very beginning is a very large hill entering the park (Garden of the Gods Park, Colorado Springs, CO) and I hope I don’t collapse just .25 miles into the race! Google the park, it’s gorgeous!

    P.S. Your orange colored chart with your progress during the race, how do you get that or where?

    Reply

    • You’ll do great I’m sure of it :) just keep going and focus on breathing and you’ll smash it.

      The charts are with Nike+, google and you buy an app/sportband which tracks how long/far/ you run each time :) I love mine x

      Reply

  22. Well done!! It’s awesome to have a post about Race for Life on Freshly Pressed. Congratulations on completing 10K! (I’ve always chickened out and gone for 5k) Have an extra big slice of pizza. You deserve it!

    Reply

  23. Good job!!! Doesn’t it feel like you could do anything after you’ve run further than you ever have? I always have to mentally talk to myself during half marathons and long runs to keep myself going. :)

    Reply

  27. Nice work, next up 1/2 Marathon?
    I love that Nike+ graphing function, I’d imagine my first 1/2 marathon looked about like your 10k, i.e enthusiastic first half, a boost at the half point, and then hitting the wall near the end! Crossing that finish makes it so worth it, if not for the sense of accomplishment, then at least for the knowledge that it’s over!
    Keep up the good work!

    Reply

  34. I have run 5ks, 50 mile ultra trail races, and everything in between. I still get choked up at the end of every race. There is an awesome emotion that comes with crossing the finish line — with knowing that your determination was stronger than the will to quit. Congratulations. Hope you do it again.

    Reply

  35. Congratulations! I will also be a first timer race- but for a marathon in December! I guess I have to get a feel of a shorter race.

    Reply

  38. Hi. Congratulations on your 1st 10k run… Can’t imagine how I’ll finish mine, with an oxygen tank most probably. :P But really, great job with the hilly route and all. Btw, how long did you train for this?

    Reply

  50. Pingback: Just an Update. | Samantha Avena

  52. Pingback: Adiós 2011 – Well, Hello There 2012. | Samantha Avena

Let me know what you think!

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out / Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s