Sunday, April 14, 2013

The Joy of Racing


One of the gifts I am giving back to myself via Raw Food Boot Camp is the ability to participate in foot races. Back in 2006, when I was previously raw, I loved running in races, everything from 5K to an Ultra Marathon (50K or 31 miles), but half marathons (13.1 miles) was my favorite. I would run my half marathons at a sustainable pace, which means that I was going slow enough to talk and make friends with the other people pacing with me. It was a lot of fun, and I've missed that.

Yesterday morning I "ran" my first race in over 6 years. It was only 5K (3.1 miles), and it was a newer, local race, which means it was small, about 75 participants, and no stress getting to it, because it was only about five minutes from my house.

It's always rewarding for me when my kids join me. Previously my oldest daughter would run with me, but now that she's living in a different state, she can't join me. Thankfully my middle daughter came with me on this one. She finished way ahead of me, but she was waiting for me near the finish line, and came and ran the last 10th of a mile with me, cheering me on and encouraging me.

She was a trooper though, because it was pretty cold for April, we even had a little mini-blizzard as we were starting the race. The wind was whipping the snow into our faces so hard it hurt. Fortunately the snow ended a few minutes in, and after the first mile the path took us through some trees which helped cut down the wind.

I've got one rule of racing, and that's to never come in last. I had to push myself a little, mix in a little jogging with my walking, which left me a little sore today, but that's ok, because I managed to beat 5 people! Let's not talke about the 69 or so that finished ahead of me, though.

My daughter is hooked on it now too, this was her first non-school race, and she can't wait to do it again, so we're thinking about another one in about 2 weeks. My finish time was about 46.5 minutes.  I race against myself, I know I'll have lost at least another 7 or 8 pounds in that time, so I'm sure I'll be able to easily beat my time.

Before the race, inside where it was warm.
And after, it was cold, but we were still smiling!

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