I call this blog Miles and Memories, yet- I've kind of left my fitness part slide off the blog radar. Today I'm pulling it together. This past weekend I participated in my first 5k of 2016, actually my first race in literally 2 years. This is when it kind it goes off the ... route. I have no one to blame but myself when it comes to letting my fitness out the door.
In those two years- I joined gyms- yes, that's plural. Even then, I couldn't get in to it. I think between my two jobs and my boyfriend's job- I wanted to spend whatever minute I could with him. I know that may sound cheesy, or dare I say- dependent (if the negative way is how you'd look at it.). Yes, I shouldn't have let go of things that made me happy before him- and I didn't let go of everything. I just loved all of our random adventures, our crazy family moments together- I didn't want to spend time I could be with him - doing something weird like running. I did run a few times- definitely probably could count on my fingers and toes. He supported me and the running. We even went a few times out together where he rode his bike, and I ran. He had big goals of riding his bike in races also- I'm not sure what got in to each other. We were -in my mind- each other's biggest cheerleaders; there isn't a reason why we couldn't have just done it. There's a whole lot of coulda, woulda, shoulda- but now, obviously we can't go backwards.
So once we seperated, one of the first things I did when I got to my parents home was dug in my closet for a pair of my old running shoes. There was something about the weather, maybe even just being in a familiar place of running, but it felt like something I needed to do. I clipped my leading lady on her leash and we ran. We both were hurting, both needing something. Maybe the run would be the answer.
I continued to run through the fall, not as often as I should've. I even signed up for a 5k, but something just didn't feel right about it and I dropped out. But since January, I've taken it upon myself to make my fitness more a priority. Hopefully trying to find this part of myself again even been pretty consistent in running a few days a week.
After I saw an idea a friend of mine did, I decided to dedicate each of my runs to someone who've helped me heal. But after day 8, I kind of forgotten/ran out of people to dedicate my miles to although I kept running them. With my running coming back to my old/new norm, I decided to sign up for races once again and see where it led me.
Which brings me, to where I meant to begin, with the race I ran last weekend.
The Brew & Stew 5k. A local race in a small town near by which I've ran twice previously. I was kind of hesitant about this race as I haven't had stellar luck with it but I knew it would be a perfect start. Of course, the weather prior to the race couldn't have been better- temperatures in the 60s and snow was melted. Wake up that morning, sleet/rain/snow/hail mix and temperatures to match. I figured this is just my luck.
But the skies cleared and well, I suppose I could suffer out the temperatures- I've done this before in the freezing cold- I can hold my own in the 40s. Plus- bonus this year, instead of the normal t-shirts- they put together a clinch bag with a pair of gloves, beanie hat, a coozie and waterbottle. The gloves worked perfectly- I would have wore the beanie also- which was very cute but didn't want to kill my St Patrick's Get-Up vibe.
I'm not even sure how to do a recap of a race but what I do know is that the race felt amazing through the whole thing- although I did get slower as my first mile was a tad faster than I normally run but by no means did it tire me out. I knew the whole time in my head- from the past- that I was going to speed walk up the huge hill that is in the middle. I knew if I tried to run it at the pace I was going, it would wear me out. I'd rather take it slow on the tough parts so I could save my energy for the end.
And that's exactly what I did, I knew that I saw the end quickly approaching- saw the time at 33 and minutes plus some odd seconds, and I wanted to do anything to beat 35 so I picked up my pace so I could slide on through before the "buzzer". I know that under 35 isn't the "best" but for not racing in two years, I'll definitely take it. I think I'm still even on a running high from the race, I just am happy that it went so well- that I broke a curse for this race. Not a bad moment to be had! And to top it off, a glass of free green beer from the local pub at the finish. :)
This just makes me want to keep working hard, and I can't wait to complete my races in the future!!!
Thank you so much for reading this, if you did - all of it. I just felt I needed to purge these running emotions for I can continue to write more about my fitness journey as it's a beginning to become part of my life again which is so exciting!
xo. Renee
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