Thursday, October 25, 2007

Running is for crazy people


So, Saturday I ran in my first 5k ever! I wasn't planning on running it, I swear. For the past year or so, I've been working up a very nice brisk walking pace as part of my fitness routine. This summer, I was pretty consistently walking about 4 miles at a 15 minute mile or so. That was the plan for the 5k.

Then the race started and everyone started by running. Which seemed reasonable. So I ran the first quarter/half mile-ish. And then I walked for a while. Then these 2 ladies who had been walking just behind me started to jog again. So I jogged. And passed them when they started to walk again, went a little further, then slowed to a walk again. And so on...

But, at mile 1.5ish, a tiny little old grey-haired lady passed me. Huh. So I started running again. Made it to that big tree, and then a little further to the other big tree. Then I walked. A few minutes later, the tiny little ol'lady passed me again. She had to be at least in her mid-seventies and a foot shorter than me. Sigh. So I was, of course, forced to run again and further. This lasted until the end of the race, where I managed to beat 77 year-old Edna by 1.5 seconds. I'm surprised she didn't trip me at some point to make me quit it. Who knew I was so competitive? Anyway, here are the results:
FIONA SOLKOWSKI, Placed 280 Overall, Placed 14 in Age Group, Pace 12:12, Finish Time 37:56.0

Doug was also at this event running his first full marathon! Woohoo! Go Doug!

And sadly, I've decided that running is WAY more effective at burning calories. Sigh. So, I ran again with support and encouragement from Doug last night. I'm actually pretty thrilled (in that sore & grumpy sort of way) about the running. It means my knees are way better than they have been for years.

1 comment:

David said...

"It means my knees are way better than they have been for years."

My thoughts exactly! When I first heard you talking about running I thought "your knees are ok with that?" I guess so! Awesome!! Very glad to hear it, and happy trails!!!