Hey yall!
After the marathon, I took a long break from working out. I also stopped running. (Let’s be honest, I haven’t really run in forever!). Anyway, way back in November, my friend asked me if I wanted to do the Hot Chocolate 15k with her. (Feb 8th) This was before the marathon, so I assumed that I would be able to do a 15k no problem. (hah!) By the way, a 15k is 9.3 miles. I agreed to do it with her because a) I hadn’t seen her in forever because she is at school in another state; b) she is legitimately training for a marathon so I knew that I would push myself to keep up; and c) I want and need to get back into running. I signed up for the race.
Here is the site if yall want to check it out: http://www.hotchocolate15k.com/ (this is where I got the logo)
Basically it’s awesome because you get a jacket instead of a t-shirt and after the race you get hot chocolate and chocolate fondue with dippers! Uh, yes please. #CHOCOLATEMADEMEDOIT
As I mentioned before, I hadn’t really worked out since the marathon. Well, that isn’t entirely true. I worked out the week after (3x), but then I got sick and did not exercise at all. What I’m getting at is that I was really nervous and didn’t want to do the run when the time came. I told my friend to leave me if I was slowing her down. (Her pace time was 11min/mile) It was snowing/icing the week prior so I was really hoping it would get cancelled– I’M TERRIBLE! Well, I already committed a while back so I had to honor that commitment.
Race day came and it was FREEZING! Literally. I think it was in the early 30s but with the windchill it felt like 20something. Of course I was also really nervous. My stomach was hurting pretty bad so that made things worse and increased my nervousness. (I used to not get nervous before races; I would just get excited. I guess since I took way too long of a break from running, I sort of dread them now because I am so out of shape? Maybe.) Ok, so race day started out really bad because I had stomach pains. But, I was with my friend and we spent time catching up, so it was all good.
The race started and we took off. I was feeling ok but of course I started getting pretty tired. My mindset was: “We are going to do 9 miles. I should force myself to keep up with her as much as possible so I’m not last.” Yes, I was terrified that I would get last place. (sidenote: “you’re stronger than you think.” Love that inspirational quote) So I keep up with her pretty well, but around mile 4 there were some really intense hills. I power through but by mile 5 I was really worn out. We were running up a steep hill and normally I choose to go fast up a hill so I suffer less, but at that point I was so exhausted from running 5 miles in a row! (I really hadn’t ran that much without walking in months) My friend speeds up and I slow down. I absolutely encouraged her to leave me and not slow down.
Another sidenote: When I run races (now since I am ok incorporating walk breaks), I make small goals along the way. An example would be planning my walk break at the next water station. In this instance, we had just passed mile marker 5 so I planned on getting water and walking for a bit at the next stop. Around mile 5.5 there are people on the sidewalk with a table and cups, so naturally I assumed it was a water station. I ran up to the person and this is what I saw…
Gig ’em Aggies! (It really was whiskey)
Initially I ran up, saw that it was whiskey, WHOOPed, then ran past them, hoping for water. But, I saw someone else take a picture and since I graduated from A&M I had to capture this and send it to all my fellow Aggie friends. I made my way back and took a picture. This was awesome! I almost took a shot of whiskey, but my stomach was still feeling iffy, so I didn’t risk it. I made it to the next water station and took my walk break. (Mile 6) I decided that I would take a walk break at the water station at Mile 7 and continue on that trend. Well… mile 7 came but there wasn’t a water station. I did say that I would walk at the next water station, so I toughed it out and made it to the mile 8 water station. By this point, I was beyond exhausted but excited as well because there was a little over a mile left! I ended up walking more than I intended to, but I finished strong! My overall time was around 1:48. Here are some pictures of the race.
Cute Chocolate!
Pre Race with the jumbo hot chocolate!
We did it!
#ChocolateMadeMeDoIt
I really enjoyed this race and after I completed it, I felt so proud of myself. I also realized that I wanted to continue to do races and get back into running. My goal is to keep up with running and do more 5k races and 10k races! I think 9 miles was a little too much for me, but once I run more and get better, I think I’ll want to do a 15k race or two! Overall, I am really going to force myself to get out an run more!
What are your fitness goals? Leave me a comment letting me know!
Thanks for stopping by! Happy Running!
-Kimi
Kimi Eats the World 