In the words of the great Ferris Bueller: Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. I try to make a conscious effort to take a moment and acknowledge milestones along the way, just because I don't want to miss a thing. One of my favorites happens to occur each year on Independence Day. On July 4, 2008 I ran in my very first race ever - the Liberty by the Lake 5K. I was such a rookie that day - wearing my cotton race shirt and aspiring to finish the whole race without walking. It was tough, but I finished in 34 minutes and I felt so darned proud of myself! I made it a plan to always run this race because it was in my own town and because it marked my Runnerversary.
 |
| Pre Race with the newest frunner, Baby P (photo: Mama C) |
As I look back over the past several years, I certainly consider this a life changing event. Fast forward to 2011 and yet another tradition is born: the waffle party. The idea was born as a group of us frunners were standing around after a trail run, trying to decide when we could get together next. A plan emerged: run the race then come on over to our place and Mr K would serve up delicious waffles and bacon (so much bacon). Life, Liberty, and Waffles is a highlight on our summer calendar and I have defined it as my "Running Thanksgiving" as it gives me a chance to look around at all of the frunner faces filling my home.
 |
| The Host With The Most - Mr Sir |
I was not feeling super ambitious about the race itself. I had run it really well the last two years as I was already a couple of weeks into marathon training at that point and had been doing consistent speedwork. I ran over 100 miles in June, but not many of them were speed specific. I had slipped into the "summer is a real son of a gun in Texas and I just need to survive the miles without worrying about speed" mode. I was more concerned with getting my long run miles in for El Scorcho 25K the following weekend. When the starting gun sounded, I made a deal with myself to simply run hard the entire way. I think that 5Ks are so hard and I don't race them very often, give me a half marathon any day! Yet every time I run one, I think "wow, these are so good for me - I should be running more of them." I might have started a little too far back as I had to navigate around many slower people in the first half mile or so, but I also felt like it helped me to not go out too fast. Things started to settle in more during the second mile, I tried not to think about how much further I had to go. The third mile of a 5K is such an impossible spot and I tried to keep on pushing through. I could feel my will and energy lagging a bit, especially when I turned the corner near just before the 3 mile marker and saw the false flat heading back into the park. Of course, it felt like a mountain at that point! One final push to the finish and thank heavens that was done!
 |
| A few of us before the race - it was impossible to gather everyone! (photo: Mark O) |
According to my watch, the mile splits were: 8:28, 8:02, 8:27 - not as consistent as I would like, but certainly some of the fastest miles that I have run all summer. My time was 26:30 - 4th in my age group and 36th amongst women. I felt especially proud of my age group finish when I heard that it was a record setting crowd for the race with 1,500 runners.
We all cheered for Drum as she picked up her award - she was third overall female and scored a sweet PR for herself. Who PRs in July?! Her hard work is paying off. The run itself was only a small part of the day. We all headed back to the house for the feast of waffles and bacon - so much bacon. It really is such an honor to have so many friends in our home and I hope that it is a tradition that we can carry on for many years to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment