This past weekend, I celebrated my one year raceaversary. A full year....man. I never ever thought I would call myself a runner, let alone a racer.
The weather for this years Oasis Zoo Run at Toronto Zoo was so much better than last year. The sun was shining, it was lovely and warm and boy was I ready to get out there. My bff's son, Tyler, was running his first 5km event, and I was definitely feeding off of his excitement. We started together, and he {very proudly} beat me by a full 11minutes.
I saw him twice out on the course. The first time was at the dreaded big hill at the Zoo (if you've been there, you know what hill I'm talking about) and gave him a high five. The next time I saw him, he looked pretty pooped, so I sprinted up to him and started clapping and cheering for him. I am just so proud of his will and determination!
The course itself was hilly, but I ran alot more of it than I did last year. I didn't make my 43minute goal (I finished at 47minutes) but I was ok with that. I am also nursing a hurt quad...I'm not sure on what obstacle I hurt my left leg on at Badass Dash, but I definitely did something and it is very sore! My compression capris from Under Armour helped with recovery during the race, and I will absolutely be using them for the next few weeks for my longer runs to make sure my quad heals nicely.
When I came up to the top of the hill, and saw the finish line, it was like it was my very first race ever. All of the butterflies...all of the feels. And then I saw my bff and the huge smile on her face. I started fist pumping and sprinting and cheering! I was so excited...but not tired.
My first thought was that I am ready for the WDW10km. When my first mile was at 14mins, and the second mile at 14:10...I knew for a fact that if I keep training, keep getting stronger, I will be able to do the 10km race in well under the 16min/mile rule.
On the way home, my husband says to me Now we just need to get you running for free. And he's right. I run a few times a week, but then will have a decent break and a week will go by...I'll get busy or Graeme will be up too many times over night and I won't feel like running. But...I need to lace up my shoes, and get out there. No matter if it's raining, snowing, cold, sunny, hot. No matter if I'm tired, crabby, excited, happy. No matter what.
My training schedule will be running on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday until the weather drops below zero. Once it does, it will be Insanity or T25 on those days, which I am really looking forward to. With Owen at school and Graeme napping fairly regularly throughout the day, I will be able to get in those power workouts. I know the impact that Insanity has on my mental state, my body and my soul, so I am really excited about this training schedule.
Since I will be running in the colder weather, long sleeves and compression gear are going to be essential, as will reflective gear since the days are getting shorter and I will be running in the evenings.
Three more races...three more months...and then...WDW10km. Here we go!
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