My First 5 Miler
I registered for the Marathon Sports End of Summer Classic 5 Mile Road Race as a timed training run before my Tufts 10K for Women in October. It was last night at Bare Cove Park in Hingham.
The day seemed to begin well enough, I finally went to O2 for some yoga goodness and felt so much better for it.
Then it got worse when I got a butchered hair cut at Mizu. It put me in a really bad mood.
Things were looking worse as I headed to 93 South at 4PM on a Friday, expecting awful traffic.
Just then my phone rang, it was the general manager of Mizu saying she had read my review and wanted to refund me.
Feeling a little lighter, I noticed I was already through the tunnel, and then in Quincy, and then in Braintree. Somehow, miraculously, there was no traffic and I made it to Kathleen's house in 30 minutes. HUH?!
So feeling a lot less upset and disheveled I went into the run upbeat and anxious to begin.
Leen and I walked around, stretched, and chatted. We queued up and waited for the gun.
After an impossibly long time, it went off and we began.
The course at Bare Cove was a mix of cracked gravel and dirt paths. OK, but not ideal. The course was also generally flat until miles 3.75-5 when it became constant little hills. At mile 2 I was tired and wanted to stop but I didn't. I actually didn't stop or walk the entire race. I plugged onward even when I was running at a snail's pace. The hills at the end were really starting to hurt my right knee and I knew it wasn't going to be good. Finally at 4.75 I saw Kathleen and we ran the last quarter mile together.
My book says that for good races you should capture that finish line moment for the constant loop of successes you should play in your head while you run. I wish I had captured it better. I was just so happy to be done. I walked around and finally looked at Leen and said "I cannot believe I just did that."
And I really can't. Who knew that four years ago when I was at my absolute heaviest (60 lbs. bigger) that I would ever be able to run 5 miles. Five miles without stopping or walking no less. Five miles with a constant elevated heart rate and pumping asthmatic lungs. Two years ago I wasn't even in this kind of shape. Hell, six months ago I couldn't do this.
I 'm just so inspired and motivated. I always think, wow, this is so unlike me. But it's becoming me and essentially is me now. I am a person that desires greatness and won't let myself be held back by limitations. I won't say "I can't" or "I won't try." I will not tell myself something is impossible. It's an awesome feeling.
Anyway, here are my official results. Not my best pace but still, 56 minutes of non-stop running, holy crap. My book also says if you are capable of 30 consecutive minutes of running you can run a marathon. Bring it.
PLC Time Pace PLC/Group PLC/Sex Bib# Name Town, State
399 0:55:58 11:12 59 18-29 179 F 199 KIM KEOUGH SOMERVILLE,MA
Lil' Wayne said it best:
I'm goin' for the gold, my heart is in control
My mind is on succeed and I am in the lead
If I don't do it now I'm a try it again and when I do accomplish it I'm a try it again
Got everything to gain and I'm proud of the pain
I advise you to think, you'll find what you can't
Victory consistently, train all year to be the enemy's misery
No stress visibly neither does it enter me
I think positively you can't harm me mentally not physically not spiritually
Nothin's what you give to me
I take whatever I'm visioning
I'll be at the finish line first, how quick is he
I'm a make sure they mention me for the next century
I'm full of dignity, I'm full of energy, pull out the inner me
The day seemed to begin well enough, I finally went to O2 for some yoga goodness and felt so much better for it.
Then it got worse when I got a butchered hair cut at Mizu. It put me in a really bad mood.
Things were looking worse as I headed to 93 South at 4PM on a Friday, expecting awful traffic.
Just then my phone rang, it was the general manager of Mizu saying she had read my review and wanted to refund me.
Feeling a little lighter, I noticed I was already through the tunnel, and then in Quincy, and then in Braintree. Somehow, miraculously, there was no traffic and I made it to Kathleen's house in 30 minutes. HUH?!
So feeling a lot less upset and disheveled I went into the run upbeat and anxious to begin.
Leen and I walked around, stretched, and chatted. We queued up and waited for the gun.
After an impossibly long time, it went off and we began.
The course at Bare Cove was a mix of cracked gravel and dirt paths. OK, but not ideal. The course was also generally flat until miles 3.75-5 when it became constant little hills. At mile 2 I was tired and wanted to stop but I didn't. I actually didn't stop or walk the entire race. I plugged onward even when I was running at a snail's pace. The hills at the end were really starting to hurt my right knee and I knew it wasn't going to be good. Finally at 4.75 I saw Kathleen and we ran the last quarter mile together.
My book says that for good races you should capture that finish line moment for the constant loop of successes you should play in your head while you run. I wish I had captured it better. I was just so happy to be done. I walked around and finally looked at Leen and said "I cannot believe I just did that."
And I really can't. Who knew that four years ago when I was at my absolute heaviest (60 lbs. bigger) that I would ever be able to run 5 miles. Five miles without stopping or walking no less. Five miles with a constant elevated heart rate and pumping asthmatic lungs. Two years ago I wasn't even in this kind of shape. Hell, six months ago I couldn't do this.
I 'm just so inspired and motivated. I always think, wow, this is so unlike me. But it's becoming me and essentially is me now. I am a person that desires greatness and won't let myself be held back by limitations. I won't say "I can't" or "I won't try." I will not tell myself something is impossible. It's an awesome feeling.
Anyway, here are my official results. Not my best pace but still, 56 minutes of non-stop running, holy crap. My book also says if you are capable of 30 consecutive minutes of running you can run a marathon. Bring it.
PLC Time Pace PLC/Group PLC/Sex Bib# Name Town, State
399 0:55:58 11:12 59 18-29 179 F 199 KIM KEOUGH SOMERVILLE,MA
Lil' Wayne said it best:
I'm goin' for the gold, my heart is in control
My mind is on succeed and I am in the lead
If I don't do it now I'm a try it again and when I do accomplish it I'm a try it again
Got everything to gain and I'm proud of the pain
I advise you to think, you'll find what you can't
Victory consistently, train all year to be the enemy's misery
No stress visibly neither does it enter me
I think positively you can't harm me mentally not physically not spiritually
Nothin's what you give to me
I take whatever I'm visioning
I'll be at the finish line first, how quick is he
I'm a make sure they mention me for the next century
I'm full of dignity, I'm full of energy, pull out the inner me