This race is very special to me for 2 reasons. 1. It was at the Maine Mall. [
self-explanatory, lol] and 2.
I ran! [
needs explanation, wink]
Here's the thing. I always brag about my race. What's not to brag? I am so proud of it. As I have mentioned in my "
The High-heeled Diva Page" I am not an athlete. I never ran when I was little and was always a loser in "
tag-you're-it" games. I am also a self-confessed late bloomer in terms of running. And now that I am enjoying it - I am more than proud!
The
Jimmy the Greek Maine Mall 5k for Lyme Disease is one of the most memorable races I had so far. It is the race that made me realized what I am capable of doing. It is the race that I had outdone myself in terms of my
assumed physical limitation. And yes, I had to admit that -
it is the only race that I actually "RUN"! Really, I ran because I would usually just jog and walk to the finish line.
Let me tell you a funny story. I came unprepared for the race to be honest with you. I just wanted to have some valid reason to be at the Mall. [wink] But kidding aside, I did hope that I would somehow break my PR but didn't have any plan of doing anything stu*id. I just told myself... "
okay, let's try to jog the whole race without stopping even for a drink". I thought that would be a good idea... just get it done with and go shopping." So I started with a slow pace as my usual warm-up and then went onwards with my usual steady
jogging pace. About half way around the race, a woman passed me and
after about 20 yards, she started walking. I was okay with it, at first
since I didn't have any plan of passing and outrunning anyone this time.
I just wanted to get over it.
But within about a mile stretch that same woman would do the same
thing over and over again. And over and over again I passed her too
since she would be walking out of exhaustion after exerting all her
effort to outrun me. At first I was thinking she maybe just doing an
interval run. But then, I also thought,
"why would I do an interval run when I am in a race?"
Oh well, I just brushed the thought off and continued running. About
300 feet from the finish line I heard her footsteps again. This time, I
was already irritated so when she was about a foot away from me, I sped
up. I sprinted to the finish line passing 3 people ahead of me. I ran as
far as I could without looking back. I crossed the finish line breaking
my last PR by almost 3 minutes. I clocked in 34:57 at 11:21 pace. I
placed 202th out of the 244 participants and yes...
she ate my dust!
Oh boy, the crowd went crazy when they saw me speeding up and passing 3 people. They were cheering and it felt so good.
See my big smile after I sped up to the finish line, passing 3 people ahead of me and outrunning that woman who ate my dust? LOL
Yes, I ran, this time. And maybe, I would be running too [since I realized that I can really run] in all the future races I will be joining in. After all it is a running race, isn't it? How cool is that?
