My little sister, affectionately known as Uncle Tina, just invited me to run the Red Rock relay race in September. I told her I'll most likely be pregnant then so unless they want a whiny uncomfortable and sick teammate, or even if they do, I'll have to take a rain check. But it did make me think of how much I like races. Here are a few things that I love about them:
-I love the carnival atmosphere, they're just so fun
-They're usually scenic
-I love the camaraderie of the runners, you know they've all suffered with you in solitary preparation for it
-Usually free food or goodies at the end (some may argue you should just go to the store instead of slaving away on runs for it, they may have a point)
-You feel pretty awesome if not right after, eventually after the race
If any of you know much about my running attitude, it's that I typically don't enjoy it. There are lots of reasons why I don't enjoy it, which I think are probably pretty obvious, so I won't bother. There are the occasional runs that I do like though, sometimes even love. Everything aligns and I feel like I'm on top of the world packed with euphoria.
I had that sort of experience last week. I went running at The Dish--a 3.3 mile loop around a satellite dish at Stanford. Hardly sounds scenic based on that, but it was spectacular. I was hesitant to go since my friends were running two loops of it and it took about 20 minutes to get there, so I decided to run another loop and a little more.
I surprised myself at how much I was enjoying myself, but I loved it. I loved running with my friends and talking and once they left, I loved listening to my music and pounding it out. It's pretty much just hills, up, down, up down, and I hadn't been running on hills and the most I'd gone since Oct was 8 miles, and that was like over a month before this run. I hadn't even been running very much during the week: 1-2 times of 3-4 miles, so I was pretty excited and obviously running on adrenaline.
It caught up all too soon. The next morning I tried to get out of bed and was stiff as a board. Thank goodness I also had a cold so I had a good excuse to stay home from church because I would have been creeping along. It took days.
I was reminded of one more thing I do love about running, my appetite. Esp during training for a long race, I love the day after a long run when I just want to eat and eat and it's because my body actually needs/deserves it.
Here is a video I found from my Boston race last year. My sister Autumn told me about it and I'm half convinced it's her cheering him on in the background--Autumn? I seriously got choked up seeing him stop and start to baby step--you?
Q: Do you like to race? Did you cheer this guy on? Wasn't that inspiring?
6 comments:
i do love races. but i have only had "race day adrenaline" once or twice. for me, it's a great goal to keep myself active and motivated.
love the video, by the way. that totally happened to me in the nyc marathon in 2008!!
i'm totally missing races right now. :( i need to plan on doing one this winter or early next spring, when the baby's a few months old. can't wait to run again! right now every jogging step feels like a punch to the bladder! i do love races though - everyone is so fit and excited to run/exercise, it inspires me! (and the free stuff at the end is great too...a t-shirt, you know, all that stuff. love it!) i always feel terrific after a race.
i totally LOVE races. i love just everyday runs too, though. maybe you need to come on runs with us more often... you'll like running more. :)
I WISH I could run so bad, I just suck at it. I have wanted to have that feeling of wanting to just go out and run, but I just can't summon it. It sounds amazing when you describe it. I think I'm just too lazy.
And I think you should do the Red Rock race because I'm assuming it's in Vegas and then I could come watch you!
This morning when I was running I thought, "I hate this! Why do I do this to myself?" But you're right--there's just something awesome about it. I usually hate it until I'm about four miles in and then it's like everything just clicks and I feel awesome! (except the day after my long runs.)
Another thing I really like about running--eating vast quantities of food totally guilt-free. As in "I ran 10 miles this morning and I NEED these calories!"
So what's your running routine when you're pregnant, out of curiosity? I tried to keep going while I was pregnant with Isaac, but that totally got derailed by bedrest, with Juliet I just did the elliptical and lifted weights all the time.
Personally, I like the little races. The ones where there aren't many runners, for sure less than 100. There usually is not a big packet of stuff (most of which I'm going to get rid of anyway) and the snacks are simple, gatorade and bananas. I only run races with friends, so it seems to be a social event for me.
A good friend of mine just ran a marathon 17 weeks pregnant. It took her 2 hours longer than usual, but she did it. Honestly, I was floored, I was lucky to get out of bed when I was pregnant.
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