On Saturday the 5th, I ran my longest race yet - the Kansas City Zoo Run for the Penguins - a 4 mile run. I've only trained at 4 miles once or twice, so I wasn't sure how I would do, but I felt pretty confident overall. My best 5K time so far was 35 minutes, but my best 4 mile time in training was 56 minutes. I set my goal to come in under 48 minutes - that would be a 12 minute mile and that would be a big accomplishment for me.
I felt really good when I woke up - I even slept well the night before. That should have been my first clue. I always eat before I run - sometimes less than 30 minutes before my training runs due to the fact that it's getting dark earlier. I decided I wanted to give myself some good fuel for the run, so I made eggs and added a little cottage cheese to the side for some protein. Holy hell, what a horrible idea. The race started 2 hours after I ate, yet halfway through the race I quickly learned what a bad decision I had made.
Overall, 1,931 people took part in the 4 mile race. I knew it would be a big one so I really tried to mentally focus on running my race (and not taking last.) Before the race began, I ran into my son's kindergarten teacher who is a marathoner. Since I run alone and my husband stays home with the kids on race mornings, it was really nice to have someone to chat with before the race started. Her friends were delightful to talk to as well - I think it helped me settle down before the run.
Ms. Kranz (my son's kindergarten teacher) and me before the race started
By accident, I signed up for the wrong wave. Multiple times I considered joining the wave behind, which is the one I should have been in, but I decided to stay put. I felt that it would help my psyche if I stayed in the faster wave and let myself settle into a groove. It ended up being a good decision. While everyone smoked me when we crossed the finish line, and several people from the wave behind me caught up, I was able to move all the way to the right, find a groove and just run. I crushed the first 1-1.5 miles. I know I ran that entire way and I was feeling pretty good. I also knew that I had started out FAST. Unfortunately, I somehow managed to set my RunKeeper app to cycling instead of running before the race so I have no idea what my 1 and 2 mile pace times were, but I have a feeling I was pushing sub-10. I was crushing it.
Then, it happened. The eggs reared their ugly head. I got almost to the 2 mile marker and began to feel like I was going to be sick. A couple times I looked for a place to throw up. I was so miserable. I would stop to walk, but my legs were not happy. They wanted to keep running - that had me excited once I had a chance to think about it. My body felt good and didn't want to stop running. My breathing was good - and my brain wasn't telling me to slow down or stop or you can't do it. My stomach was though. I got myself calmed down and began to try to find a comfortable interval to finish the race at.
I ended up walking almost the entire 3rd mile - I felt that sick. It upsets me to think about now as I know I could have kept running and turned in a really good time. But, I didn't want to throw up in the lion exhibit. So, I took it easy. Somewhere between miles 3 and 4 we got rained on. The temperatures were cool, it was really some nice weather to run in.
As we cruised closer to the finish line, the people that were coming out to cheer on the finishers was pretty incredible. So far, the largest cheering squad I've experienced. They were yelling at us to finish strong, encouraging us to keep pushing, and incorrectly telling us the finish line was just around the corner :-) I did yell at someone for that. Suddenly, I realized that everyone was wearing a cute little penguin medal - I had no idea this race gave out finisher medals. That was all the motivation I needed - I kicked it into gear a little faster and pushed to the finish line.
At the post-race party with my cute little penguin medal
Overall, it was a fun race. I wish I wouldn't have felt so nauseous - I would have liked to have pushed it a little harder and finished better. I also wish it wouldn't have been so cold because a lot of the animals were hiding from us, trying to keep warm. But, I'm really happy with how I finished. This is a race I will do again - I'm already excited for next years - plus, I can't wait to find out the animal the race will be supporting and my medal will be sporting.
I crossed the finish line at 46:15 with an 11:34 pace (seriously, I had to have destroyed my miles 1&2 pace times). I finished 1,030 out of 1,931 racers; 578 out of 1,265 female race; 123 out of 256 F 30-34. There isn't a number in that mix that I'm disappointed with. I am sure there are 30 more people I could have passed to break 1,000th place, but that's okay. I know what mistakes I made that held me back and I will definitely not make them again!
Logan's teacher told me that when she told the kids she was doing a penguin race, he asked her if that meant we were going to bring home a penguin after the race. It was really cool to come home and tell him I did get to bring home a penguin, and then show him my medal.
I mapped out a 4+ mile trail by my house, so I'm ready to begin training for my longer runs. I have a 10K in just a couple weeks - and I'm already really excited about it. I think if I train hard the next couple weeks, I can do a 1:03 time for that race. That would be so crazy, but I think I can do it. I'll just have to settle in, find my pace and run my own race. We'll see.
Goals for this week:
Going to rest today and then head out tomorrow to get in my 4 miles. Plan to try to keep the pace I ran the race at and see if I can run at least half the miles.
