running just as fast as we can
angels pre-race - pic by jeatonYesterday I ran in the Pittsburgh Marathon, as one-fifth of a relay team. We are all awesome CMU peeps, so we were team Andy's Angels. Our goal was to run!
I'd gotten about 2.5 months warning, so plenty of time to train back up from nothing! Well, I thought it was nothing, since I had done almost no running since before my knee got cracked open, but I still had some of the endurance from the previous year; I just needed to get my knee into a reasonable shape. So I spent two months working out in a variety of ways, trying not to break anything.
Race day was drizzly, overcast and about 60 -- really nice running weather, as it turns out. I was leg 3, which meant I started running at just about 9am. I spent about 15 minutes pacing the sidelines waiting for my teammate to finish her leg, then 3 seconds jumping out into the road when xuth pointed out to me that she'd just arrived. I medaled her, she slapped me (with the slap-bracelet), and I was off.
grand finish - pic by xuthOverall it went great. I remembered to pace myself well, I went over the bridge and up the big hill on Forbes without a hitch. I knew the route quite well, and convinced myself not to push hard because I knew there were a lot more hills to come. Somewhere during my run it stopped drizzling, but I have no clue as to when. Finally on the last downhill stretch I ran all out and finished fully exhausted. I nearly ran into my next teammate before she medaled me and I slapped her, and she was off.
My official time was 49:03 over 4.8 miles. It would have been even more awesome to break 10min/mile, but I'm considering that with the elevation (net +220 ft) and being the first big run for my knee, that's still pretty darn good. My knee didn't bother me at all, and feels great today. I ran 99% of the distance, and my legs are nicely sore today. I think that all counts towards total success! The team finished in 4:47:38, with everybody doing really great runs.
With days like yesterday, I feel like I could get used to doing this running thing more. I have grand plans to run more this summer, using the track for sprints, building up leg muscles with biking, getting into overall better shape, and doing more awesome things in the future.