Anyways, but I will try my hardest to keep pushing when I can with great posts :)
I'm sitting here almost a week after my last race. What?! I know- I didn't mention I had a race coming up but I will give you a little recap? There isn't much to say. The normal 5k run down.
So last Saturday I participated in the CWC Heartland Day 5k in my hometown. Leading up to it- I'm not going to lie- I didn't run as much as I probably should have been and I could list a million excuses but simply said- I just didn't get out there.
Allergies this year- for me- have been horrible. Constant stuffy nose, itchy eyes, and best part of all- the worse sore throat ever. I've been to the doctor twice- I swear to them- it has to be strep. It has to be something. Nope- they swear to me it's just allergies. Suck it up buttercup- take your Claritin.
So I've been tackling those- somehow. That morning I woke up with the worse throat ever- and barely any voice. Could I breathe through my nose? Not so much. Could I swallow? Kind of. Also, did I mention all week long we've had temperatures in the 80s with 100% humidity. So of course, Saturday was predicted to be the worse all week.
After much thinking- I decided I'd just go down to the park and pick up my packet and head home. There wasn't any reason to make myself sicker. I got to the park - immediately got jealous- I know I would be mad at myself if I once again dropped out of a race. I decided basically - why the hell not? Grabbed my headset and sunglasses out of the car. Clipped my bib on, grabbed as much toilet paper as I could crumble up, and got myself to the starting line. In my head, I know the weather isn't great and hell- I could barely breathe so I would take whatever time I can get. This wasn't going to be my best.
Honestly, it could have been a great race. My first mile wasn't bad at all, but I'm a sucker and when I see someone walk- I feel I tell myself sometimes I should walk too. I could have gone longer without taking my first walk break. I probably could have taken less walk breaks. My dad had to work, but my mom did catch me a few times along the route. Literally every time she caught me- I was walking. Maybe I'll blame it on her, she cursed me ;) I didn't walk crazy slow, I utilized my walking for a drink break as well as to blow my nose then hustled back to running. I didn't finish at all near my best time but it also wasn't my worse. So that made me feel a little better.
Because of the weather, as well as multiple conflicts- this race ended up being rather smaller then normal. I watched the times be placed on the board- I noticed I was the third person to come in in my age group for females. WHAT?! Okay for many reasons this shocked me, I'm in a popular age group- I didn't realize how small the race was either. So I ended up with a shiny medal. I loved that I placed- how fun is that. But I know had circumstances be different, this wouldn't have been possible at all. So by no means am I letting it distract my thinking that I do need to work harder.
I'm going to get my ass back in to gear. Hopefully stick to some medicine everyday so I get battle these pesty allergies. Take advantage of the outdoors with strength training in the park and swimming at the pool during adult swim hours. Run - of course, like always. I plan to sign up for some more races- just have to do some digging around and my calendar out!
Hope you all been enjoying the wonderful summer and that your allergies haven't gotten you down!
xo. Renee
