A bit about myself first - I'm 19, fresh outta first year of university and currently working. I've always been relatively active, playing a lot of sports like basketball, skiing...etc, but I've never considered myself physically fit. A bit over a month and a half ago, I was feeling very unsatisfied with my life because I had no real goals besides simply graduating. After coming home from work, decided to try running and absolutely loved it.
Skip a month later, I read about this event online about a week before it begins but decided it was something I had to do.(The event was also a 2 min drive from my house) The longest I had ever run in my training was 4.5k, so I was a little nervous coming into the race.
Race day- I wake up at 6:30, full of energy from excitement which was surprising because I usually hate mornings. Had a simple breakfast of toast/peanut butter and tv watching to try to calm my nerves. I end up getting to the race area, 20 mins before the race starts. At this point, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do, but I see people picking up their chip timers so I follow suit. I was quite happy to see the good mix of people, around 200, of old, middle age and really young ( im talking 9-10 years old). No one looked really "pro", and seemed like a more relaxed family event.
At the start of the race, I had no idea where I was supposed to stand. I know that the actual racers should be in the front, but wasnt sure where everyone else was supposed to be, so I stand roughly in the middle. The race starts, and I feel very excited to finally race for the first time.
First 1k- I start out quite slow, trying to pace myself, but it was really hard because It felt like everyone was passing me. It was initially hard to focus on my running because there was so much going on around me.
2nd k - I really enjoyed this part of the run, because I was still so full of energy and the weather was absolutely perfect. Roughly 20C, with light wind and clear skies. I tried to look around my surroundings like the creek, and the trees to try to calm myself down. I think it worked because I felt "In the Zone"
3k- Theres a water station at the halfway mark. I tried to be "pro" by grabbing the cups of water while still running which was a disaster. Im not sure how people do it, but attempting to drink water from a cup while water is splashing in my face was really hard. I end up walking for about 3-4 seconds which I hoped I wouldn't do.
4k- This is when it starts to get hard. For some reason it felt like the sun was especially hot, as I felt the sun's rays. This is when there are a couple of people cheering, and I tried to draw energy from that. I also tried talking to myself saying "you can do it" and the like. At this point I also start running beside a girl who is probably my age, and decide that I must either run at her pace, or beat her. ( it also didnt hurt that she was quite pretty
)5k- For the last K, I'm absolutely exhausted. My legs felt drained of energy, but there are more people cheering. I think I walk once again for 5-6 seconds because my body was screaming to stop, and my mind couldnt take it anymore. I start to lag behind the girl I was running with. I think I also give myself a chest pound to try to encourage myself to finish strong. Within 300m of the finish, (i think), I see the girl in front of me start walking. I realize this is the perfect opportunity to pass her and I start running with basically everything I have. I end up beating her, to the finish and I see that I've also run it in under 30 at 29.18 chip time which I am really pleased with. (I ran something like 30 mins for the 4.5k during training). At the end, I'm exhausted and drenched in sweat, but I was very excited that I actually finished.
Overall I loved the race. It was weird to see kids who were half my age beat me but it only motivates me want to work harder for the next upcoming race. ( I plan to do an 8k next month) I'm really proud that I've kept working at something for so long, and hope that one day I can run a marathon.
