Despite the weather, I was feeling good. The preceding days had been a real success in terms of my eating, and I was down 6 lbs. on the scale from my weigh-in on November 1st. I was also meeting up with Mandy and Pritha for the race, and I'm always happy to run with friends.
We stood around for a few minutes, then it was time to run. I wanted to finish in under an hour, so I tried to keep a fairly aggressive pace (at least for me) from the very start. However, it took very little time before I got really tired. I made the stupid mistake of not eating anything prior to the race. Normally I'd at least have a banana or a slice of bread. I also realized that it had been months since I'd tried to run with speed in mind. During marathon training, I had built up my endurance, but lost quite a bit of speed.
Still, I tried my best to keep up a decent pace. The three of us were together for about the first mile, then Pritha surged ahead. It was difficult for me to keep up much of a conversation, but I tried to chat with Mandy as much as possible. Having a buddy really does make the time go by.
Once we warmed up, the cold was totally unnoticeable. It was really pleasant, actually. The course was very pretty, winding its way through a local nature park. At some point, my empty stomach became a problem and I started to feel pretty weak. I had to stop and walk quite a bit during the last mile. My finish time was somewhere around 1:06, which is less than stellar, but I'll take it. The run was more about getting a workout in and hanging out with my friends.
Rather than the usual bananas and orange segments, they served hot apple cobbler and hot chocolate after this race. I shared mine with Angie while we all stayed warm in the car.
I treated myself with a spaghetti dinner and a slice chocolate cake last night. While it felt strange breaking my abstinence, I didn't feel guilty, nor did it lead to a binge. I'm back to my routine today and still feeling strong and confident. For the first time in a while, I have a sense of hope that I won't always think about food every minute of every day.
7 comments:
Congrats on the run!
Wow great job on the weightloss! What I'm realizing is that if I can continue to sign up for races, it doesn't matter if I race them just running is good enough. Save up true races and fast paces for those you really train hard for. Plus you get a cool T-shirt. I'm a sucker for a good t-shirt. :)
Congratulations! Sounds like an amazing day!
Nice going! I scanned the crowd before the race, but couldn't find you. I, too, didn't eat breakfast. I figured I'd get by on an energy bar - oops.
I really love that course and I did a couple of my long runs preparing for the marathon out there.
Congratulations on the weightloss!
It sounds like you are in a much better state of mind! I am happy to hear that you are coming around :)
Congrats on the race! I think that is a great time, especially if you were not training for it!
I always feel a huge sense of accomplishment when I eat something "bad" and don't feel guilty. It gives me hope of being normal someday!
Good for you on all fronts! Thanks for sharing your battles with us, I can so relate as I can in today to a binge at breakfast and after reading this, it will stop here and not lead to lunch. You are strong gal Morgan, I appreciate you putting yourself out there for us - I'm learning right along side of you. Thansk.
Great job with the race and the weight loss! It is amazing what only a few days of clean living will do for the body.
Hopefully I can follow your lead!
Good luck next weekend. I will getting in my second 5k at the same event. Lets pray for sunshine huh!
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