What a difference a month makes

BEFORE

My husband is pretty awesome.  He didn't blink an eye when I asked him if he was ok with me running a race on Thanksgiving morning.  I was excited for the opportunity to run another 10K race- this time without anxiety or fear of diarrhea! Just a month after my first 10K I was full of confidence and ready to go!

So I signed up and got a few people from my church to join me.  Two days before the race, my husband and our neighbor, George, decided to do the 5K race.  I was surprised but didn't say much because I wanted to be careful not to bring any judgement or nagging when it comes to exercise and/or running.

The night before Thanksgiving my husband waited until the last minute to make his secret recipe pecan pie for our family get togethers. And for some reason, he let our three year old stay up to help him.  I should have said something- little did I know that letting it go would be creating such a big problem the next day.

PRE-RACE

Thanksgiving morning was freezing cold.  I was thrilled and excited to run. We had to drag my son out of bed to don his layers for the race.  The plan was for my hubby and George to walk with Asher and they would take the jogging stroller in case Asher would rather ride.

Because they signed up at the last minute, we joined the crowds to pick up their packets that morning.  Did I mention that it was cold? Brrrr! All the local races I had done before this only had a few hundred runners- I was unprepared for how many people were there to race.  Had all this been going on in years past while I slept in?

We slowly meandered towards the start area and chatted away.  All of a sudden, they were making announcements over the loudspeaker.  The race was about to begin and I was stuck at the very back behind throngs of people.  I gave everyone a quick goodbye and quickly left to get in as good a position as possible. 

THE RACE ITSELF- MY EXPERIENCE

There was the gun and we were off! It was so frustrating to try to get going past all the people who were walking, sometimes 3-5 people across.  Hadn't they every heard of race etiquette?

About two miles in, the 5k route turned off while the 10K'ers continued in a different directions.  I looked down the 5K route and smiled, so happy that my husband and son were enjoying this awesome morning- what a terrific way for our family to start our holiday! The crowd thinned drastically and I just focused on my race. At one point I pulled out Carmex for my chapped lips. However, when I tried to squeeze it out, it was frozen solid!

Soon the 10K route made its way back to the 5K turn off for the last mile or so back to the finish line.  I was tired on the last stretch of hill and internally cursed the race directors who always managed to squeeze in these darn hills at the very end! How many times had I driven this stretch of road.  How had I ever noticed how steep it was? I started to worry about my family who may have been waiting out in the cold for me- surely they were warm and waiting in the car? So I sent a quick text to my husband who told me they were about to cross the finish line. What?  See you soon!

At the finish, I was feeling great but only saw my family and the timekeepers.  The awards were going on in another area and most of the people were there. The race photographer has also moved to the awards area. I grabbed some water and a banana, but the bananas were frozen solid.  So I turned to Mr. Man, eager for news of the great time they had.  Instead of a glowing story, he gave me one of those looks.

THE RACE ITSELF- THEIR EXPERIENCE

For the last hour Asher had been screaming for me.  He started the moment I said goodbye right before the race start. He didn't want to walk.  He didn't want to run.  He didn't want to ride.  He just wanted his mommy.  Eventually poor George grew exasperated and went on ahead with the stroller.

At one point Asher sat down in the middle of the road and refused to move. That's when the deputy who was bringing up the rear of the 5K racers took pity on my husband and offered him a ride. They rode in the car for the majority of the race route until they caught up with George and the stroller. This time Asher got right in and fell asleep.  He was still rolled up into a ball snoozing away in the stroller as Mr. Man told me the story and slept all the way home too.  

The looks on their faces at the finish line say it all.  When will this be over... and I'm never doing this again.  

Neither George nor my husband has asked to join me on any other races- and I can't say that I blame them. 

Running Store Newbie

About six months into running, I decided it was time to go a real running store to buy some shoes.  I was training for a half marathon and wanted plenty of time to break in my new shoes before my big race.

I had just completed my very first 10K race and had nervously eyed the set up of my local running store.  But I was way too shy to actually go talk to anyone with all those real runners around. So a few days later I drove up to New Sole Running in McDonough. I had tucked my well worn Skechers GoBionics into my purse in case they wanted to see what I had been wearing.

Skechers GoBionic Run

I remember sitting in my car for a few minutes gathering the self confidence to go into the store.  Finally I made it through the front door and I was greeted by owner, David Jonson. We chatted about running and my goals.  I was embarrassed to say out loud that I was training for a half marathon.  I was obviously overweight and not in great shape.  I was afraid it sounded silly to have such a lofty goal. But Dave didn't seem to notice.  Instead, he and his employees spent over an hour with me checking out my gait and helping me try on lots of shoes.

At first I didn't want to try on some split toe shoes by Topo Athletic. They were just... well, pretty weird.  Why waste time trying on something that I would never buy?  But I did, and I did! This is the first time I have ever purchased shoes without any thought of the color or style- but purely on how they made me feel.  I instantly fell in love with the Boa Closure system.  No more too tight or too loose laces for me!

Topo RR's in red

I am so grateful for the patience, kindness, acceptance and encouragement I found at New Sole Running.  That's why I keep going back! 

One step at a time... Amy