First race done!

Just had to share this super cute pic of Clint and Rosalee. I wrote this blog on Monday but didn't get around to posting until today...


Here i am in San Francisco airport waiting for a flight to Maui. My BFF is getting married tomorrow (yay!) and i will use the 4-day trip to acclimatize for an upcoming race. I miss my little family already.

Yesterday i ran my first race since Augusta 70.3 in September 2009. The big, international, Sooke 10k.

I decided to do this little race a week ago to test my legs on a hilly course and to help gauge my current fitness. Everyone i talked to told me how tough the course is, and i have done precisely zero threshold work since Rosalee was born, so I had no expectations for a fast time, but i was nervous. I was nervous that i would embarrass myself with a slow time. I was nervous that the hills would be too much for my SI joint which continues to be loose since childbirth. I was nervous about the pain of a 10k race.

I got up early to get a few miles in before heading to the race (i am training for Ironman after all!) and did 40 easy minutes with Zoey, including some surges around the dog park. Another 30mins warm up came later when we arrived at the venue and then there i was, standing on the start line amongst the other runners nervously swaying from one foot to the other. The 17months between me and my last race might as well have been 17days.

I told myself the same things i tell my athletes if they have the tendancy to go out too hard in a race. Relax and run fast. Be in control. You want feel fast and flowing.

I didnt pay much attention to the time, I just ran hard. At about the 6k mark it started to get really hard, and by the 8k mark my brain was sending out messages of "you cant do this for much longer"and "you might not make it". Perfect. In the end I ran a time that was slow for me but i was the second woman, so i take comfort in the fact that there was only one other girl out there who was fit enough to beat me on this day. I must have some fitness. A flatter course would have brought a better time, but the training effect from those hills is now stored in my legs for use in future races.

Clinton and Zo-dog were waiting at the finish line (Rosie was with Grandma Pearl), I jogged another 21mins to make 2h10 total running for the day, collected my ribbon and then headed to the pool for a swim.

My first race as a new mom is now in the bag. My SI joint held together largely thanks to my chiropractor, Rob Hasegawa.

Hard, hilly 10k race: check. Maui here I come!