Sunday, February 10, 2013

My 1st Indoor Track Meet...

For XLMIC....Barton Hall....I'm the pink dot on the right.
Oh, the pain! 
Thing 1 asked me to take him to an open track meet today. I don't know what got into me but before I knew it, I was registered in the 1500M. I almost puked as I handed over my $3...especially when Thing 1 made me seed myself at 7 minutes.  I mentioned it as a lark the night before, and got some surprising supportive feedback so as I lay awake nervous as heck, I decided to do it.  Although it was an open meet, it was definitely overwhelmingly teenage there.  Like, a few older guys that can still kick ass on the track, a bunch of under-10 kids in the local running club trying out the track for the first time, some race walkers.....and me...suburban mom.  I do not run short distances.  I don't even really like running 5K's.  I like longer races where slow is cool.  Slow is not cool in the 1500M.  I had to wait around for a while before my race.  Thing 1 ran the 800 and did well.  He has been sick and after a round of antibiotics is starting to feel better running.  So today was a test.  And he hit his time easy and feeling good...no coughing up a lung, so all was good. I tried to pass the time by jogging the track beforehand.  Maybe a mile or so.  I wasn't counting.  They finally called my race & the slowest heat would run first...6:35 and slower....OMFG....this was NOT going to be pretty.  I think it's the most nervous I've been at a race start.  I felt so out of place.  But before I knew it the gun went off and so did I.  Longest 7 1/2 laps of my life.  The kids were awesome though.  I have to say, it so touched me that I heard so many of them cheering me on and encouraging me especially when I was feeling like I was going to die...somewhere around the 6th lap.  Such a good group of kids.  Thing 1 was even there calling my lap times to me.  It was hard.  Really hard. Harder than a marathon I think...at least to me.  But, oh my, so very satisfying that I put myself out there & as my MIL would say "didn't disgrace the family name"!
I just think this is adorable

7:17 ...I finished 2nd last....to a racewalker.

The best part of it though was Thing 1's take on it.  "I think you could have hit 7, but that's the most pain I've ever seen you in. You had a really bad pain face".

Frosty's gone Ragnar!
In other news, after I got home, I went to my first Ragnar Niagara team meeting! I am SO excited! I am Runner 6....around 19 miles and will run by my family twice during the race! Yay! We have an awesome group of women. It is stacking up to be a very fun time!

Thing 1 also reworked my marathon training plan.  It is going to be challenging, but I think he did make it better. If I can hit his splits, I will definitely go into my spring marathon a stronger, faster runner. Maybe even capable of beating Oprah ;-)

And because, who doesn't like a cat picture....Bad Kitty giving me the evil eye while hugging Thing 1.  










7 comments:

Kate Geisen said...

Dang, that looks speedy fast to me...I might have lost to the race walker! Nice job getting out there and trying something new! :) And that cat is most definitely giving you the stinkeye. Better watch out!

XLMIC said...

AWWWWW!!!!! Thank you! And hey! you get to change your sidebar! You finished ahead of your Top Dog time :)

7:17 on an indoor track with pain face is pretty AWESOME!

Frickin' Fabulous at 40 said...

I would have come in behind the person that WASN'T behind the racewalker! LOL! I would LOVE to try an indoor race- that's just so cool that it's open and you don't have to fret about it for weeks ahead of time!

Jamie said...

Great job at the track meet, I've never done one but that would be fun to try sometime.

And hey if you need teammates, two, for Niagara as it gets closer keep me and my husband in mind :)

Ransick said...

Awesome job, absolutely awesome! Way to set an example for your children and do something uncomfortable (to say the least) and give it your all. Awesome.

Nelly said...

Nice on the indoor mile! If you ran 7:17 indoor, you definitely could run 7 outdoors since the turns are more gradual. Yea my general theory is that the shorter the race, the more intense the pain is. So the mile is painful! To me the only race that eclipses that pain in the marathon if you hit the wall.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your indoor track race! So proud you got out there and just did it, besides the fears and worries!