50 Minutes or Bust!

I am happy to report that Family Run Night still exists. Granted, it hasn't been every week, especially over the holidays, but for the last few weeks we've been strapping Adam into the stroller and taking him for a 3 mile run with us. Without me really noticing (because it happens so gradually), my pace has slowly sped up (hooray!), and with a little pushing from Michael, I can run my last mile or two under 10 minutes/mile! After one of our runs last week, Michael insisted that I could run my upcoming 5-mile race under 50 minutes. No way, I said -- 52 minutes sounded more reasonable. That's 2 extra miles from what I've been running, and it has been 2 months since I ran 5 miles (the last time being my half marathon).

Sunday morning was the test. Friend Sarah and I were signed up for the Riverwalk Run 5k/5-mile race. The last 2 years we ran the 5k distance (last year I was 7 weeks postpartum), but this year we took on the 5 mile challenge. After a less-than-a-mile warm up (the first 1-2 miles are always the hardest, might as well get that out of the way beforehand), Sarah and I lined up at the starting line and set out to break 50 minutes. When we crossed mile 1, I was astonished that my watch read 9:38?!?! Ok, I figured we started out too fast and we needed to control our pace a little more. After mile 2, I look down and see 9:32?!? Crazy for me! It was great that we had this cushion because I could already tell that I was going to need it by the end. After mile 3 I started to really notice the heat and I was dumping water on my head at each water stop. After mile 4 I knew I was slowing down. We have this!, Sarah reminded me. Ok, girlfriend, we have 7 minutes. Time was my motivator, and I just needed to get over the drawbridge, around the block, and along the waterfront to the finish line. Along the end of the route there was Michael and Adam cheering me on, and when I crossed the line, my time said 49:47!

I have to thank you, Michael, for always believing in me even when I wasn't sure I believed in myself. Thank you for encouraging me and pushing me (in a good way!) to always get better. Now that I have hit this milestone, I am a little afraid of what you're going to challenge me with next!

There's no next race on the calendar yet, but since we are in the midst of birthday season (cake, cake and more cake!), I hope to use that as motivation to run weekly, even if it's only on Family Run Night.

Bib   Overall   Clock time  Chip time

585      247         50:25         49:47