The Paint the Street 5K was held this morning at 7:00 a.m. This race is for a good cause--United Cerebral Palsy of Huntsville & Tennessee Valley, Inc. (UCP) spinal cord injury services. From their website, "the race was created in honor of Carlene Hall, an amazing woman who displayed uncommon faith and courage in the face of a debilitating spinal cord injury." Rick and I were glad to run this race today and to support this cause.
Our babysitter enabled us to both run today. I am so excited about finding a sitter at the races. I wish we'd found her sooner! Rick got a 19:36 and then ran back to our house afterwards for a total of 11 miles. I finished first overall female. See below to see how embarrassed I was to stand on a finisher's podium for my win. I jumped up there and hopped quickly back down. I felt so silly up there!
My splits were:
6:19
6:39
6:37
:41
20:15 (6:32 pace)
I am pretty happy with my performance today. I ran 12 miles yesterday at an 8:34 pace, and my group ran hills on Wednesday. I will say that trying to run 5Ks while in the middle of marathon training (with the hardest training program I have ever used) is TOUGH. You can't fit it all in! So I am pleased that I held on to the pace better than in the Twilight 5K. I think anytime my slowest mile is NOT the third mile, I should be pleased. It is still hard for me to run fast that whole last mile.
Today I was thinking about this news story I had seen last night. It was about a guy in a wheelchair, Chris Waddell, who was climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. He didn't want to just compete in the Paralympics, trying to beat someone else with a disability, he wanted to climb this mountain instead. Anyway, he has a documentary out called "One Revolution." It's all about the struggles he faced as he climbed the mountain. Today, I thought about him as I struggled near the end of the race. It seemed fitting due to this race's cause, and it made me realize that this race is nothing compared to other's day-to-day challenges. I am blessed!
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| Going to the podium Picture from Christy Scott |
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| Hopping quickly back down Can you see my daughter watching me to the right? |
You are so right about how holding onto a pace is nothing compared to some struggles other people face--what another great reminder! ...It's funny I was telling my husband about the podium. I didn't think I had ever seen one at a running race before-but I think it's a common sight at tris. In fact, they don't call it "placing" they call it making the podium. GREAT JOB today. With all those factors working against you to still be so fast is just incredible. You are continually inspiring me to work hard in training. THANK YOU!!
ReplyDeleteThere was a podium at a tiny trail race in Fayetteville a few years ago and I won first place in my age group, so I had to stand up there. It was hilarious. I too was in a hurry to get down!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on another amazing race! You inspire me to keep pushing as well!