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Pushing boundaries
Dec. 8th, 2013 12:04 pmI think most of you know that I've been somewhat casually pursuing running as a recreational activity this last year or so.
It started out of a desire to participate in a zombie obstacle race - Run For Your Lives - without making a total ass of myself. And once I successfully (albeit slowly) completed that race, I figured I might as well maintain the moderate level of fitness I achieved as a result of my training. Which allowed me to try other races in 2013:
1 normal (just running, no gimmicks) 5K in April.
1 obstacle race with mud and foam (5K Foam Fest) in June.
1 novelty race (just running, no timing chip - Run or Dye, a knockoff of The Color Run) in August.
My personal goal was to complete a minimum 3 races this calendar year, whether those were just about running, or more focused on fun with running as a side benefit. And since I've completed the three listed above, I figured I'd accomplished my mission, and was done with organized racing until spring, since I am not a fan of cold weather, and do all of my winter workouts on a track at my gym.
But that was before last Thursday, when I decided to announce my decision to register for a 10K (my first race at that distance) being held at Navy Pier about a year from now on Facebook. This post caught the interest of my high school friend Chris, who lives in Lawrence, Kansas but has been in Chicago most of this month visiting his parents. He's recently taken up running himself, and expressed interest in joining me. We agreed that we'd do as much of the run together as possible (he's much faster than me) and I was happy to have gained a local running buddy.
I didn't expect anything more to come from this conversation, but later that night I got a Tweet from Chris, telling me to check my Facebook wall for some info he shared on race he was doing that Saturday morning called the Santa Hustle 5K. His hope was that I'd join him, but I had to act quickly, since registration ended that night. I checked the page, learning that the race was being held at Soldier Field, had a course along the lakefront trail, and included things like fake beards, santa hats, and cookie stations to fit the holiday theme. Concept-wise, it sounded like a hoot, although there was the whole outdoor running in 20-degree-or-less temperatures to consider.
Without the promise of a running buddy, there's no way I would have even considered signing up. I'm not a huge Christmas fan, so it wouldn't have been worth my while. But knowing I'd have someone with me......someone willing to retrieve my race materials for me, since I couldn't make it to the packet pick-up location within the time range allotted.....someone willing to drive us to Soldier Field so there was no suffering on public transit at the ass-crack of dawn......someone who would make the whole experience fun despite the risk of hypothermia.....
You see where this is going. I shoved my fears and my cold hatred aside and plunked down the registration fee.
And immediately felt batshit insane.
But there were no refunds. Nothing more to do but plan our race day logistics and hope for the best.
Which is why I found myself waking at 6:30 on Saturday morning, dressing myself in two pairs of socks, running tights, a long-sleeved t-shirt, a thermal vest, hat, and gloves. When Chris arrived with my race swag, I added a the official long-sleeved, dri-fit race shirt (which was red with a front that looked like a Santa's robe), a fake beard, and an ill-fitting Santa hat to my outfit.
Once we got there and were actually out in the cold air, I did have some doubts about what I'd gotten myself into. But there were booths to browse and free Emergen-C to drink, both of which kept us moving and relatively comfortable. We lined up in our race corral (these were segmented by average minute-per-mile times - we chose 11 minutes, which a little faster than my usual, a little slower than Chris's), and hopped around to keep frostbite from setting in.
Not long after, we were off. I couldn't tell if I was at my regular pace, or if the air stinging in my chest was slowing me down. But we pounded the pavement steadily, occasionally passing people, and once we were fully moving I stopped noticing how cold it was.
Don't get me wrong. There were moments when it hurt. I felt a mild side stitch that I had to push through. And when the wind picked up, which it only did a few times, I felt like it might end me. But we only stopped for a few photo-ops along the course, and slowed at the cookie and candy stations. Mini M&Ms are not easy to consume while you're in motion, by the way!
I lost pace with Chris with about a quarter of a mile to go, which was totally fine because I appreciated him staying with me for most of the course. He pulled ahead when the finish line banner became visible and I pushed through my fatigue as much as I could, finishing at 39:36.25. This surprised me, because it was less than a minute slower than the timed race I did in April, and because I didn't realize our timing chips were sophisticated enough to subtract our photo op breaks.
Needless to say, I felt joy and pride and relief and satisfaction when all was said and done. Also felt grateful to Chris, without whom this experience would have never happened. And there were more free cookies!!!
I guess the moral of this story is that we are usually capable of much more than we think. So don't let fear and doubt hold you back.
I'll probably still do most of my winter running indoors, but I like that I'm hardcore enough that I can take to the streets of my neighborhood should I so choose!
It started out of a desire to participate in a zombie obstacle race - Run For Your Lives - without making a total ass of myself. And once I successfully (albeit slowly) completed that race, I figured I might as well maintain the moderate level of fitness I achieved as a result of my training. Which allowed me to try other races in 2013:
1 normal (just running, no gimmicks) 5K in April.
1 obstacle race with mud and foam (5K Foam Fest) in June.
1 novelty race (just running, no timing chip - Run or Dye, a knockoff of The Color Run) in August.
My personal goal was to complete a minimum 3 races this calendar year, whether those were just about running, or more focused on fun with running as a side benefit. And since I've completed the three listed above, I figured I'd accomplished my mission, and was done with organized racing until spring, since I am not a fan of cold weather, and do all of my winter workouts on a track at my gym.
But that was before last Thursday, when I decided to announce my decision to register for a 10K (my first race at that distance) being held at Navy Pier about a year from now on Facebook. This post caught the interest of my high school friend Chris, who lives in Lawrence, Kansas but has been in Chicago most of this month visiting his parents. He's recently taken up running himself, and expressed interest in joining me. We agreed that we'd do as much of the run together as possible (he's much faster than me) and I was happy to have gained a local running buddy.
I didn't expect anything more to come from this conversation, but later that night I got a Tweet from Chris, telling me to check my Facebook wall for some info he shared on race he was doing that Saturday morning called the Santa Hustle 5K. His hope was that I'd join him, but I had to act quickly, since registration ended that night. I checked the page, learning that the race was being held at Soldier Field, had a course along the lakefront trail, and included things like fake beards, santa hats, and cookie stations to fit the holiday theme. Concept-wise, it sounded like a hoot, although there was the whole outdoor running in 20-degree-or-less temperatures to consider.
Without the promise of a running buddy, there's no way I would have even considered signing up. I'm not a huge Christmas fan, so it wouldn't have been worth my while. But knowing I'd have someone with me......someone willing to retrieve my race materials for me, since I couldn't make it to the packet pick-up location within the time range allotted.....someone willing to drive us to Soldier Field so there was no suffering on public transit at the ass-crack of dawn......someone who would make the whole experience fun despite the risk of hypothermia.....
You see where this is going. I shoved my fears and my cold hatred aside and plunked down the registration fee.
And immediately felt batshit insane.
But there were no refunds. Nothing more to do but plan our race day logistics and hope for the best.
Which is why I found myself waking at 6:30 on Saturday morning, dressing myself in two pairs of socks, running tights, a long-sleeved t-shirt, a thermal vest, hat, and gloves. When Chris arrived with my race swag, I added a the official long-sleeved, dri-fit race shirt (which was red with a front that looked like a Santa's robe), a fake beard, and an ill-fitting Santa hat to my outfit.
Once we got there and were actually out in the cold air, I did have some doubts about what I'd gotten myself into. But there were booths to browse and free Emergen-C to drink, both of which kept us moving and relatively comfortable. We lined up in our race corral (these were segmented by average minute-per-mile times - we chose 11 minutes, which a little faster than my usual, a little slower than Chris's), and hopped around to keep frostbite from setting in.
Not long after, we were off. I couldn't tell if I was at my regular pace, or if the air stinging in my chest was slowing me down. But we pounded the pavement steadily, occasionally passing people, and once we were fully moving I stopped noticing how cold it was.
Don't get me wrong. There were moments when it hurt. I felt a mild side stitch that I had to push through. And when the wind picked up, which it only did a few times, I felt like it might end me. But we only stopped for a few photo-ops along the course, and slowed at the cookie and candy stations. Mini M&Ms are not easy to consume while you're in motion, by the way!
I lost pace with Chris with about a quarter of a mile to go, which was totally fine because I appreciated him staying with me for most of the course. He pulled ahead when the finish line banner became visible and I pushed through my fatigue as much as I could, finishing at 39:36.25. This surprised me, because it was less than a minute slower than the timed race I did in April, and because I didn't realize our timing chips were sophisticated enough to subtract our photo op breaks.
Needless to say, I felt joy and pride and relief and satisfaction when all was said and done. Also felt grateful to Chris, without whom this experience would have never happened. And there were more free cookies!!!
I guess the moral of this story is that we are usually capable of much more than we think. So don't let fear and doubt hold you back.
I'll probably still do most of my winter running indoors, but I like that I'm hardcore enough that I can take to the streets of my neighborhood should I so choose!
