Return to Racing

Seven years ago, when I began the Couch to 5K program, a great piece of advice that I received toward generating accountability was to register for a race. I ended up choosing one about four months out from when I began the training app; in my hometown and proceeds going to breast cancer research, a disease that had afflicted my mom just a few years prior.

In the years following, I raced in seven 5Ks, four 10Ks, and eight half marathons. I also started, but did not finish, one 25K trail race.

It was the 25K that first detracted me from organized running events. It was a brutal day on a wet, sloppy course, which resulted in a variety of aches and pains that took a very long time to resolve. In fact, I still have a nagging piriformis situation that has never really gone away. (Literal pain my arse.)

There were also some real life obstacles that shifted my attention away from hard running and made it difficult to push myself in the areas I needed to in order to “race”.

May I also here disclaim that when i say race, I don’t mean against the field; I generally mean against my own self and past performances….lest I misrepresent myself here as fast and/or competitive. (I am neither, and I am ok with that.) Anyway…

A recent opportunity to purchase a sponsorship in a local race - the River to Ridge 5K sponsored by the New Paltz Chamber of Commerce and part of the New Paltz Challenge series - provided a great excuse to pin on a bib and get back to the starting line. The sponsorship came with two race entries and so Sunday morning found my husband and I on one of my absolutely favorite trails in the area!

I should also disclaim here that my husband IS fast and competitive. He’s also my de facto coach. On this day, he was also my pacer.

I told him the goal I wanted to hit. It was a good lesson on goal setting actually. As I mentioned, I haven’t been pushing myself lately. I still love running but I’m quite content to run very much inside what is easy, comfortable, and safe. Every once in a while, though, I get a glimpse of what I am capable, just beyond the boundary of that. It was with this in mind that I set a goal of under 30 minutes. {Frame of reference, my PR for the 5K is 27: 19 at the Dash to the Finish Line in NYC in 2015 but an average training run of that distance probably falls around 31 - 32 minutes lately.}

I won’t keep you in suspense - I am happy report success! My official chip time was 29:52!

I ran harder than I would normally have pushed myself and having my husband pacing was super helpful. My job was just to keep up with him. Not looking at my pace/watch allowed me to use a little mindfulness to stay focused in the moment and not get discouraged by getting caught up in how difficult it felt.

It had been a long time since Running and I had a day date of that nature, and it felt wonderful to set and meet a goal. I was also pleasantly reminded of how much I love the energy, vibe, and excitement of race day. One of my favorite times and spaces to be reminded of the goodness of humans.

Oh, and I almost forgot the unexpected surprise of the day — I took second in my age group! What?

Overall, it was a fun event on a great course and I am so glad I found my return to racing!