AprilN
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 7, 2002
- Messages
- 1,666
I did it! I ran in my first race on Sunday, and it was fantastic! The event was the Great Race, which starts in Saratoga, CA and ends in Los Gatos, 4.0 miles away. I hardly slept the night before, an unfortunate combination of nervousness, the time change, and waking up at 6:00 AM. 
DH and I made it to LG on time, where we met up with my sister Becca and her friend Catherine. Then it was off to the starting line in Saratoga. We arrived a little over an hour before the race, but by the time we picked up our timing chips (tied to our shoes), got some coffee, stretched and took a quick warm-up walk, and waited in the LOOOONG lines for the port-a-potties, it was 8:55 and time to line up! It was cloudy and a little cold when we arrived in Saratoga, but right before the race, the sun broke through, and shone for the entire race.
I was getting more and more nervous,
but it was too late to back out now. After a "false start" (not sure what happened), the race finally started a few minutes after 9, with the playing of Amazing Grace (which my DH pointed out was probably a pun on "Amazing Race"). We ended up lurching as a crowd towards the starting line just like a typical stop-and-go traffic jam (we were pretty far back), basically walking until we got there, then the crowd spread out and we could finally start running. My sister ran with me the entire way (she could have run faster), but Catherine took off immediately - she has a much faster pace. I brought my MP3 player and kept the volume down, so I could hear the music but still talk with my sister.
Once we got past the first crowd of walkers (please, don't walk 4 abreast and take up 3/4 of the road!!) and could settle down, I realized that I had nothing to be nervous about - the race felt just like my morning jog. Except a little more exciting, with all the other people around.
There were a few hills, which I had to push myself to climb, but running with my sister made the race just fly by! I was a little tired by the Mile 2 marker, but then there was a nice downhill, and I caught my second wind. For a moment I was worried that I hadn't been running hard enough, because it felt too easy. I was surprised how many people we passed during the race - I went into the race hoping not to be passed too often. There was a water station at the Mile 2 marker, but neither of us were thirsty, so we didn't stop.
Before too long, we were making the final turn, and the finish line appeared! I took off my headphones, and my body told me that it was time to sprint. I even caught my sister off guard - I had warned her that I would try to sprint, but she didn't realize I would be so fast! As we approached the finish line, the announced called out our numbers, and we gave a little cheer. Then I noticed the time, 46:11 - I was almost two minutes faster than my goal of 48:00! I pushed myself a little harder, and then it was over, and we met up with DH and Catherine, who had finished a while before us. Hooray, I did it!
Apparently, we came in so early, DH almost didn't get any pictures. It was only because he asked Catherine to head down the road and give him a heads-up that he got any pictures at all - and he was so busy with the camera, he didn't even get to cheer! We turned in our timing chips, picked up our ribbons and T-shirts, and then decided to head to my parents' home, as we were having a birthday brunch for my sister later that morning.
I spent the rest of the day waiting for the official results to be posted online, but they didn't show up. Argh! Finally the next day, DH found them by searching through Google... my final time was 44:31.6!! I beat my goal by over 3 minutes, with a time of 11:08/mile! I still can't believe it. It turns out it took us over 2 minutes to get to the starting line after the start of the race - thank goodness the timing chips record the exact race time. My sister beat me by 0.1 seconds.
I finshed 1092 out of 1412 (based on the published results), and in my age group (female 20-29), I came in 58 out of 76. Based on his recollection, DH thinks I was one of the first "heavier" runners to cross the finish line. 
So that's the tale of my first race. It was totally worth it! I can't wait for my next one - I can't decide whether to try a 5K (and run faster), a 10K for the longer distance, or maybe even a short triathlon! Maybe I'll even work my way up to running a half marathon. I sure wish I could be there with all of you next January, but my vacation budget can't afford it. In any case, I know that another race is definitely in my future. 
Thanks for reading! Here are a few pictures from the day:
<center>Race day morning - all ready to go!
They just announced our numbers, so we gave a little cheer. Becca (sister) on the left, me on the right.
Sprinting towards the finish.
Almost there!
The happy finishers (me, Becca, Catherine) in our race t-shirts - XL for me, woohoo!
</center>
DH and I made it to LG on time, where we met up with my sister Becca and her friend Catherine. Then it was off to the starting line in Saratoga. We arrived a little over an hour before the race, but by the time we picked up our timing chips (tied to our shoes), got some coffee, stretched and took a quick warm-up walk, and waited in the LOOOONG lines for the port-a-potties, it was 8:55 and time to line up! It was cloudy and a little cold when we arrived in Saratoga, but right before the race, the sun broke through, and shone for the entire race.
I was getting more and more nervous,
but it was too late to back out now. After a "false start" (not sure what happened), the race finally started a few minutes after 9, with the playing of Amazing Grace (which my DH pointed out was probably a pun on "Amazing Race"). We ended up lurching as a crowd towards the starting line just like a typical stop-and-go traffic jam (we were pretty far back), basically walking until we got there, then the crowd spread out and we could finally start running. My sister ran with me the entire way (she could have run faster), but Catherine took off immediately - she has a much faster pace. I brought my MP3 player and kept the volume down, so I could hear the music but still talk with my sister.Once we got past the first crowd of walkers (please, don't walk 4 abreast and take up 3/4 of the road!!) and could settle down, I realized that I had nothing to be nervous about - the race felt just like my morning jog. Except a little more exciting, with all the other people around.
There were a few hills, which I had to push myself to climb, but running with my sister made the race just fly by! I was a little tired by the Mile 2 marker, but then there was a nice downhill, and I caught my second wind. For a moment I was worried that I hadn't been running hard enough, because it felt too easy. I was surprised how many people we passed during the race - I went into the race hoping not to be passed too often. There was a water station at the Mile 2 marker, but neither of us were thirsty, so we didn't stop.Before too long, we were making the final turn, and the finish line appeared! I took off my headphones, and my body told me that it was time to sprint. I even caught my sister off guard - I had warned her that I would try to sprint, but she didn't realize I would be so fast! As we approached the finish line, the announced called out our numbers, and we gave a little cheer. Then I noticed the time, 46:11 - I was almost two minutes faster than my goal of 48:00! I pushed myself a little harder, and then it was over, and we met up with DH and Catherine, who had finished a while before us. Hooray, I did it!
Apparently, we came in so early, DH almost didn't get any pictures. It was only because he asked Catherine to head down the road and give him a heads-up that he got any pictures at all - and he was so busy with the camera, he didn't even get to cheer! We turned in our timing chips, picked up our ribbons and T-shirts, and then decided to head to my parents' home, as we were having a birthday brunch for my sister later that morning.
I spent the rest of the day waiting for the official results to be posted online, but they didn't show up. Argh! Finally the next day, DH found them by searching through Google... my final time was 44:31.6!! I beat my goal by over 3 minutes, with a time of 11:08/mile! I still can't believe it. It turns out it took us over 2 minutes to get to the starting line after the start of the race - thank goodness the timing chips record the exact race time. My sister beat me by 0.1 seconds.
I finshed 1092 out of 1412 (based on the published results), and in my age group (female 20-29), I came in 58 out of 76. Based on his recollection, DH thinks I was one of the first "heavier" runners to cross the finish line. So that's the tale of my first race. It was totally worth it! I can't wait for my next one - I can't decide whether to try a 5K (and run faster), a 10K for the longer distance, or maybe even a short triathlon! Maybe I'll even work my way up to running a half marathon. I sure wish I could be there with all of you next January, but my vacation budget can't afford it.
In any case, I know that another race is definitely in my future. Thanks for reading! Here are a few pictures from the day:
<center>Race day morning - all ready to go!
They just announced our numbers, so we gave a little cheer. Becca (sister) on the left, me on the right.
Sprinting towards the finish.
Almost there!
The happy finishers (me, Becca, Catherine) in our race t-shirts - XL for me, woohoo!
Wow! April! This is a great post. You did great. I did a 5k at the speed you did the 4 miles. I don't think I am ready to up the speed as you. I was hoping to get a 10 k in soon, but am not certain of it just now. I know I can do the 5k and hope to improve my speed a bit too with that. I need to make the decision on my 10 k really soon and you have inspired me.
