January 1, 2011

I WIN

I was certainly an uncomfortable experience doing a 5k in the snow. The temperature when I left the apartment was 22 degrees F. It wasn't snowing and the air was very still. When I got to City Hall there was still no falling snow as I got registered and started to stretch for the walk. I had my awesome playlist ready to go for the event and my new interval timer set up and ready to keep my times. (The interval timer is awesome it whistles at me when it's time to change my pace.) My plan was to walk and jog intervals for the last 2.2 miles. I've been doing intervals when I work on the treadmill and it has been getting easier to push through the jogging intervals with a fairly easy recovery time in between.

Then... it started to snow. It was a lovely light powdery snow that only falls when it's very cold... and then the temperature dropped a bit. By the time we started the street was white with snow and the walking path was impossible to see-- thank goodness some people had maps. There were signs, but even those were difficult to see if you weren't looking in the right direction for them. (I wasn't wearing my glasses because it was harder to see with the melting snow on them.) This was the poorest planned 5k I have done to date. The registration table was set up with no cover so the poor workers (who didn't have their winter coats donned) were getting snowed on. They were entering information into a laptop-- while they tried to keep it protected from the falling snow-- and there were very few volunteers coordinating the event. There were no people at any of the turns to keep you from making a wrong turn. There was no one available to help if needed. And there were no water stations.

I was able to get 3 jog intervals in early in the race before the streets got to be too slippery for me to feel comfortable moving that fast. Twice I almost really slipped which would have been a scary situation. I decided to wear warmer socks since it was so cold. That probably wasn't the best idea since I am ultra picky about my socks because my feet are so sensitive, really. I'm not just being the princess and the pea here, but I can totally relate to her dilemma. If the sock is too rough a cotton or has too big of ribs on it they hurt me. And forget wearing those standard absorbent-type white cuff gym socks-- those are torture. So I go out of my way to find nice microfiber (bamboo if possible) socks for working out. I got blisters after about mile 1 on the balls of my feet.

Everyone always easily passes me up at these walks. It's hard not to compare yourself to other people when the damn thing is called a race. I have to try hard to put that thought out of my head and focus on my reality as it exists in front of me at that moment-- and just do my absolute best. Perhaps it would be worth noting that most of those people probably have been fitter longer than me and have probably not just lost 53 pounds since June.

Despite all that thinking I did kind of give up at the end of mile 2. I felt like it was useless to push myself because I will never "win." Then a kick ass song came up on my playlist and reminded me that I'm doing this for myself- and that is a win no matter when I get there. I picked up the pace and worked past my blisters and cold, wet feet. I walked with intention and mindfulness of my experience. Cold, really uncomfortable pain in my quads, judgments, worries, very cold, and happy to be there to feel it all.

Into mile 3 the excitement of finishing kicked in and I felt my mind slipping into that warm, wet place of non-thought. I love that place! The roads got quite slippery at that point and I had to slow down a bit to accommodate my sliding feet. I'm nervous about slippery surfaces having slipped and really hurt my tailbone before.

I had ice in my hair from the sweat and frozen falling snow. My nose wouldn't stop running. My hands were numb. My feet were icy. I was probably near last.

I finished.

And only 1 minute 11 seconds slower than my last 5k that was in warmer, drier conditions with better guidance and facilitation on the track.

My body has been in quite the state of shock today. I slept and had consuming dreams after I warmed up enough to stop coughing. I think the exercise in the cold irritated my lungs causing exercise-induced bronchoconstriction after the race. Once I warmed up they stopped. I felt icy cold AND burning hot for hours and I couldn't think straight. Maybe was a bit hypothermic. And ohmygod I hurt. I've been drinking water-- and I fed a massive craving for pasta. I normally dont go out to eat and certainly not for pasta. But I was wondering if my body was kindly requesting carbs since I may have burned them up. I figured a new years day pasta run was in order. I didn't eat much, but I feel much better now.

As far as I can tell:

I WIN!

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