I have always said I am not a distance runner. I ran high school cross country for something to do and in one race they started the boys because they thought all the girls were done and I was still running the course. THAT is how terrible I have been at cross-country! But at 27, with a rapidly expanding butt, I signed up for Lethbridge’s Moonlight Run as motivation to actually hit the gym on a regular basis.
When I first signed up, I also registered Ryan who said he didn’t need to train and that he could give me and my friend Catherine (who is 7 months pregnant) a head start and still win. That pushed Catherine and I to really train hard. About two weeks before the race Ryan went on his first run a couple of blocks to a friend’s house. When he got back he let me know he would not be running the race after all. Ha ha ha ha ha!
But the training paid off . I was shooting for an hour which I know is slow, but bear in mind my history with distance running. Imagine my surprise when I crossed the finish line at 44:20! Not exactly fast, but for me that was like lightning. I was very happy. Now I really want to run another one to see if I can beat this time. This course (which by the way had no moonlight because it was a new moon!) ended with about a mile climb up a long, gradual hill. I walked up that whole sucker- there was no way I could run it. I bet on a flat course I would have a much better time.
The best part of this? Being competitive! I miss sports so much and I can’t tell you how much fun I had passing people and pushing myself during this race. My goal is to do one race per month through the spring and summer. Hopefully that, combined with ball and hiking, will help me take off some major poundage!
Good job! I need to amp up my running too because I signed up for Tough Mudder this summer.
Um wow!! I googled Tough Mudder and that looks incredible! I wonder if I’ll have the balls to do the one in Calgary this summer? Are you doing any other special training for it besides amping up running?