House of Hope Run Around the Pines

Before the race, I was even thinking about blogging about it. I knew I had to find something a little more interesting than talking about the actual road during the race.

So here it is: What is your ritual before racing? Do you even have one? Have you ever noticed that you actually DO do the same thing before every race? Well I do! I get up, do the whole regular morning thing; brush my teeth, bathroom...so that's pretty standard. But then I always make sure my arm pits are completely shaven. Because, they will be soooo irritated if they're not!!! :) Make sure my clothes are right, make sure I have pockets for the iPhone and keys, and then off to the kitchen. Sometimes people like to eat a big breakfast, so their stomach isnt't empty, I definitely rather have my stomach be empty while running. I grab a huge cup of water, which I usually never finish before arriving at the race, and one slice of bread. Completely dry, no butter, not toasted, no jelly, NOTHING! I figure - since my stomach is constantly upset, atleast there will be a little something in there.
Before going to bed I arrange everything I'll need the morning of the race. My clothes, my sneakers, my number will lay flat on my dresser, with the saftey pins already attached. The night before races, I realize I have a bit of OCD about it all. I want to make sure I have everything. The comfiest clothes, and not fogetting my number or anything!

And then the race begins. There was a lot of people at this race!!! Me, Heidi, Jaklyn, Lindsey, Kristen, and Tinkerbell. But unfortunately, we couldn't all come together and find eachother before or after the race :( Pretty depressing, but we all ran/walked our best!

The race began and I stuck with Lindsey for around the first mile, then I knew it was time to break away. I really was feeling good, listening to my HARDCORE Rap music on Pandora, and I really wanted to try and break this 30 minute mark I've been trying for! I started off that same pace but picked it up a bit. According to the clock I was around 10-11 minutes for the first mile. I knew it was less than that based off of the chip, so I was feeling alright. Between mile one and two my left arm started going numb!! Probably not the best thing, but I just tried to shake it off and work through it. (Side note: that's definitely something I've struggled with my entire athletic career was extremely bad circulation. This is probably the reason, I hated running! :)) By mile two, the clock was around 20-21 minutes. And then the worst thing ever happened....

MY BLISTER!!!! I could feel it just getting worse and worse in my shoe. I honestly, need to go buy new shoes today! It was literally right after crossing mile two. It hurt so damn bad, but I didn't want to stop, if I led up at all, my pace would be shot to shit! My pace was great, I was feeling good, except for my foot, and this race was so flat, I just COULD NOT stop! I kept it going :)

There's always a point when I know I'm close to the edge. And that's when all the fast men from the race, start running back to cheer everyone on. I always know there's not much further, because I see the same black guy, and the same older Florida alumni guy! The race ended on a bike path, which was cool. Really scenic, but there was no time to look around, my eye was on the prize and I needed to start kicking! Right at the three mile marker is when I really like to haul ass. At that time, the clock said 29 minutes and some odd seconds! I couldn't believe it, was I really going to do it! I kicked and kicked and raced this little girl beside me, and we both crossed the finish line at the same time.

I crossed the finished line at 30:10. Beating my other race time from the previous one of 30:20. But then I remembered the chip!!!!!

And hour or so later after the race, my time was 29:02!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I finally did it! I couldn't have been more proud of myself for finally reaching my 30 minute goal time!

I even did it with this horrible blister! I really need new shoes now!

I bandaged myself and it was off to the Addys!!!!!! :)