Race Report - Run the 'Hood 5k!

Well hello there! Remember me? It has been ages since I have blogged. I know I need to get back in the swing of things here. I feel like it really did help to keep me motivated and accountable back in the days when I say wrote a few back-to-back posts in a week! Yes, believe it or not, I think that did happen. Or heck, even at least ONCE a week would be better than the crickets you've heard chirping away here!

Ok, enough of all that. I will seek to improve in that area. But on to the business at hand - my race report for the Run The Hood Virtual 5k at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. 

 

 

 Yes, I ran the 'Hood! Here I am in my spiffy new shirt. I was very excited for this race because it was a way to support The Sisterhood! I even got a friend from high school back home in N.Y. to do it "with" me. She did! We ran it together several states apart.

Another reason I was excited was because I joined a running club (yes, me!)  in mid September for beginner runners and I was eager to see how this race would go as it was my first race since joining the club.

In January, I set a goal  that I would do one 5k per month for 2011. I am very proud to report that I have met my goal thus far. This Run for the Hood will count as my October race! (Ok, I am doing another one this coming Sunday and that will count for October also, but who is counting?!) I signed up to the Run the Hood like I said, mostly because it supports the great work these ladies do on that site!

Race day arrived on Sat. Oct. 22. I get up early each Sat. to go do the Scale Dance at OLPWW... also known as Our Lady of the Perpetual Weight Watcher, aka the WW center where I attend meetings at 7 friggin a.m. After that, I go w/ a WW friend to get a bagel and coffee each week. I  also had to go w/ DH to take one of our cats to the vet. When we got home, well,  I just had to watch one of my favorite cooking shows that happened to be on. Then apparently there were a lot more things I just "had" to do such as:  create a new playlist on my iPod, call the Apple Tech support guy (who was super nice and helpful) due to an issue w/ my iTunes account, log into MapMyRun.com, to see about mapping out an accurate route, map out a few more routes online while I was out it to see which I might like best, and to save some for future reference,  look up directions to my GymBoss so I could use the stop watch on it and hunt down my SpiBelt which had been MIA for a while... in other words, for some reason I was just lollygagging it all afternoon long! Finally around 3, I headed out for my run. Mission accomplished! It is a simple and direct route that I chose, an out and back course, but I did not realize how hilly it really was even though I drive on this particular street every single day.

I really did not want to have to walk any of it but I ended up walking some and I am ok with that. I am still much further along than where I used to be! I finished in 43:01, which was ahead of my goal of 45. Very happy with that! Oh and I saw another runner on the other side of the street and he gave me a thumbs up. That just made me smile and gave me a shot of adrenaline.

My one regret happened at the very end. Every race I do, I always always always sprint like a maniac once I have the finish line in my sight. I mean, I get this crazy distorted look on my face and pour it on big time. (the picture below, from my July race is just one example).

 I kept running till the end in the Run for the Hood but I did not sprint like a maniac and the ONLY reason is because the sprint would have been down my street to the finish line -- my front door-- and I was self conscious about any of my neighbors seeing me go all crazy like that. As soon as I finished I thought "who the heck cares?!" and I will know for next time not to have such a silly silly thought for this girl who has come such a long way!

Tonight w/ my running club I ran 2.5 miles without stopping! 35 minutes! I am excited to see how I do in this next 5k coming up. I WILL be completing my goal of one 5k a month by the time the year is out. Then I will have a whole bunch of race reports to catch up on!