Our first 5km time-trial. I couldn’t believe I was being timed already. I had only had two days of running behind me. It seemed so unfair! Plus I’d have to run 5km non-stop...
We did a quick warm-up - 1km, and then took off for the 5km run (12½ laps of the track) in 24 degree heat. It wasn’t just warm, it was humid. As much as I love Sydney summers, it’s not running weather. But the big challenge, with this one, was that Dave couldn’t run with me. He had to do his own time-trial. So I had to try to find people who we’re at my seriously slow pace. I joined a couple of girls whose pace I liked and we did the first km in 7min 47 secs. Easy to remember! I was pretty chuffed to be able to keep up with other runners.
But the negative talk started sinking in. While the girls were busy concentrating on the number of laps we had done, my mind started wandering off to how we’d only done ‘how many laps?’ and we had ‘how many more to go’. Glass half empty kind of thinking. And that proved to be my downfall. After about 3km, I got a stitch I slowed down to a walk. I had convinced myself that I needed it and I’d probably do better if I just had a rest...... I watched the girls pace ahead of my while a stitch worsened. My breathing was crazy. People were running past me (lapping me), some saying ‘breath in through your nose’. I felt like punching someone in the nose.... It’s amazing how angry I seemed to get when the running got hard! I suppose I was frustrated with myself. And then more negative thoughts came into my head about how ‘I hated running anyway’, and ‘why had I joined up’. The pains in my neck and shoulders were back, I could feel blisters forming, my legs ached and I was exhausted.
Luckily I managed to pick up to a run again after about 300m, thanks to a few “lappers” cheering me on. Needless to say Dave lapped me tons of times and finished well ahead of me. Discouraging as it was, the fact that he then started up again with me, to help me through the last few laps (armed with a bottle of water), was a massive bonus. Another girl, Clare (who I knew through the swim program) joined us as well. It was fantastic support and kept me running until the end.
My final time for the first 5km time trial was 40:28, with an average 1km time of 8:05. I suppose the 300m walk didn’t help with the average time result, but I was just happy I finished it. :-) The time trials are rewarded by ‘pub night’. So we headed off to the local pub for dinner - in our stinking clothes. I literally hobbled in. True to Sydney pub style, it had a barbecue where we cooked our own steaks. A great way to finish off a hard night!
"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."
We did a quick warm-up - 1km, and then took off for the 5km run (12½ laps of the track) in 24 degree heat. It wasn’t just warm, it was humid. As much as I love Sydney summers, it’s not running weather. But the big challenge, with this one, was that Dave couldn’t run with me. He had to do his own time-trial. So I had to try to find people who we’re at my seriously slow pace. I joined a couple of girls whose pace I liked and we did the first km in 7min 47 secs. Easy to remember! I was pretty chuffed to be able to keep up with other runners.
But the negative talk started sinking in. While the girls were busy concentrating on the number of laps we had done, my mind started wandering off to how we’d only done ‘how many laps?’ and we had ‘how many more to go’. Glass half empty kind of thinking. And that proved to be my downfall. After about 3km, I got a stitch I slowed down to a walk. I had convinced myself that I needed it and I’d probably do better if I just had a rest...... I watched the girls pace ahead of my while a stitch worsened. My breathing was crazy. People were running past me (lapping me), some saying ‘breath in through your nose’. I felt like punching someone in the nose.... It’s amazing how angry I seemed to get when the running got hard! I suppose I was frustrated with myself. And then more negative thoughts came into my head about how ‘I hated running anyway’, and ‘why had I joined up’. The pains in my neck and shoulders were back, I could feel blisters forming, my legs ached and I was exhausted.
Luckily I managed to pick up to a run again after about 300m, thanks to a few “lappers” cheering me on. Needless to say Dave lapped me tons of times and finished well ahead of me. Discouraging as it was, the fact that he then started up again with me, to help me through the last few laps (armed with a bottle of water), was a massive bonus. Another girl, Clare (who I knew through the swim program) joined us as well. It was fantastic support and kept me running until the end.
My final time for the first 5km time trial was 40:28, with an average 1km time of 8:05. I suppose the 300m walk didn’t help with the average time result, but I was just happy I finished it. :-) The time trials are rewarded by ‘pub night’. So we headed off to the local pub for dinner - in our stinking clothes. I literally hobbled in. True to Sydney pub style, it had a barbecue where we cooked our own steaks. A great way to finish off a hard night!
"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."
Mary Engelbreit
http://www.cantoo.org.au/Sponsor-a-Participant.html
http://www.cantoo.org.au/Sponsor-a-Participant.html
No comments:
Post a Comment