Redding Road Race Review 2013

Today I ran the Redding Road Race, my first race ever.  There was a half-marathon and a 7 mile race.  I ran the 7 mile and a friend ran the half-marathon, which started first.    

The half starts with a loop of the farm. This is the end of the loop.  My friend is in the blue tank!

Race tips and highlights:

1. The course is hilly but not too bad.  I ran the 7 miler despite only having ever run 2.5 miles before that. I chugged along and did the whole thing, slow and steady.   By slow, I mean I may have only finished ahead of 5 or 6 other people.  You don't get much slower than me. 

My view: sorta lonely. A strong self-image comes in handy.

2. My favorite thing about the race was that when I was about halfway done-- jogging on quiet roads, with a couple people behind me and a few waaaaay up ahead that I could see faaaaaar up in the distance-- a bossy man on a bike rode by and said, "Stay to the left please.  Half-marathon leaders are coming through.  About 300 yards back."  I perked up.  I was gonna have company!  Sure enough, a fleet-footed guy blew past a minute later.  
    "Good job!" I said. 
    "Thanks- you too," he huffed back.  
Soon I was surrounded by HORDES of people- fast people! Running near me... for the rest of the race!  The last few miles were so much fun.  Not only did a bunch of the half-marathonners lap me (trailing glory in their wake that rubbed off on me), at another point, the course doubled back on itself, so people from both distance races were running in the other direction!  I went from being alone to being surrounded by the energy of hundreds of other runners.  I was so thankful to the race planners for doing that.  I can't even tell you how encouraging it was to not be left all alone in the back even though I was clearly one of the slowest people out there.  I still got to run with everyone else!  That's crazy... crazy awesome!

Before I started the race, I wasn't sure I would be able to finish.  Not only had I never run anywhere near 7 miles, two days ago my arch started aching while I was running.  I told myself I'd alternate walking and running if my arch really hurt.  Fortunately it only ached a bit, and I just took it slow.  I didn't take a single walk break, even on the hills.  Once I hit mile 5, I knew I was gonna have no trouble running the whole thing.  I listened to my body and it said, "Girl, you got this! Take your time and keep going."  

My finish, to cheering crowds!  Thanks Jon S. for the pic!

I achieved my two goals: finish the race, and finish before my friend who did the half-marathon so I could cheer her at the finish.  I may be slow, but I'm proud of  the progress I've made in my running since I started last Thanksgiving.  Running doesn't come easily for me. I'm not light or slim-hipped and I have terrible feet.  In January I injured my Achilles heel (how many ways can I find to injure myself?) near the end of my first Couch to 5K program and had to take 2 months off.  That sucked, but I joined a local Fit4Mom 5K program a couple months ago and carefully got back into running.  Getting back up to 2.5 miles with that group made me able to run this 7 mile race today.  Slow and steady...

I'm Getting Older, It's True

I just started trying to get into running. When you start exercising after being inactive for a while, you start realizing just how OLD you are. I'm 37 and my body just ain't young and spry. I'm hoping that as I get in better shape my body will feel better. We shall see.

I'd like to run a half marathon in the next year, but my main goal is just to NOT injure myself.

I was driving to work and thinking about how I'm 37, which is pretty close to 40. And actually, I'll be 38 in a few months, so I'm now closer to 40 than to 35. I'm practically middle-aged now! What the heck! When did THAT happen. Don't get me wrong. I'm really happy to be alive. I'm not complaining about approaching 40. I'm gonna be really thankful for every year I have on this planet.

A couple days ago my sister was at Barnes and Noble and I asked her to look at running books for me. I asked her if she saw a book called Running Until You're 100 by Jeff Galloway.

She said, "Yeah but wouldn't need that. It says it's for runners in their 40s 50s 60s and 70s."
Me: "Katie, I'm OLD. I'm almost 40."
K: "Really?"
Me: "Yes, I'm almost 38. That's practically 40."

I've been thinking about my age because I'm approaching the age where it will be challenging to have another child, both as far as chances of conception and as far as, can my aged, broken body handle another pregnancy? Sleep deprivation I'm fine with, but I've had to do physical therapy for hip and back stuff after having each kid and I'm not sure I'm up for that again. That's part of why I'm trying to start exercising. My body just can't stay as destroyed and rickety as it feels now!

  Even if I don't have another kid, I'm getting old, and I need to keep my body feeling more capable than it is now! I want to feel good, not bad. And it seems like the whole world has run a marathon but me, and I would like to run the NYC Marathon or half-marathon. I'm barely running two miles yet, so I have a ways to go.