My First Run: March 10th, 2012

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Written by: pitweston on March 14, 2012.

I first put on my Nike shoes back on January 26th, 2012. It was the first of many runs. I would run a mile most days. After some time running and after getting accustomed to the strain on my legs and feet, I pushed myself further and went for two miles. Eventually, I ran 3 miles. Towards the end of February, my feet were feeling it. I had run every day for a 30 days. It was due time to take a break and rest my feet.

I didn’t want to rest my feet. I was worried that if I took a day off from running I would slack off and put running aside and do it less and less. I will sadly say that happened. I haven’t ran but a mile since I took that break at the end of last month. I can blame work. I can blame just being lazy. Both are factors but I will more of less say it is me being lazy. I don’t want to stop running. I want to keep doing it.

When I started running, I had no real goals. I wasn’t looking to run a marathon. I never thought of entering myself into a race. I wanted to run to take the place of smoking. By the way, I am still smoke free as of 01/02. Impressive, huh? With not smoking, I needed something to fill that void. Running seemed cool. I wanted to get healthier and get in shape. I ran and with my sister (and brother) being avid runners, she mentioned a local run that was coming up quickly. It was the annual, St. Patty’s Day Run in Westport. It took me a while but I signed up. I was eager for the race. I was like a kid on Christmas morning. I couldn’t wait to get in there and wait for the starting bell to go. My sister and I waited for the race to start. We better get a before run photo. You know, before the sweat kicks in.

I was not aware of how many people were there. It was crazy packed! It was my first race. My first time ever being around that many people. I was overwhelmed and was still unsure of how I was going to even run among this massive group of runners. My sister points past the starting line to an orange cone. “See that cone? You should have enough room then to spread out and run freely.” She was right. The blow horn sounds and everyone is off. I was in the back. I was the 9 minute pace mark. We step forward a little until we reach the starting line. I cross the black pad and I click start on my RunKeeper app.

I was planning on wearing earphones all the way through the race but wasn’t sure of how well they would stay in my ear. I have yet to purchase a better set of earphones so I am still using the set that came with my phone. They work fine when I run around the park alone but at this time, I was worried they would fall out. I would be dealing more with the wires and getting the earphones back in than actually trying to run a race.  Eventually, I ended up putting the earphones in and jammed to some tunes that always get my pumped when I run. The route is below. It was a 4 mile race.

I run every morning at a local park. I haven’t in about week and it’s killing me. I need to get back to doing it. Anyway, I run at this park. It’s a mile around the pathway. After taking time off from a painful foot, I ran it. I did just a mile and had my best time. I also ran further than I normally do before I get winded and take a walking break. That was awesome. I was proud of myself that day. In the race, I walked but did my best to walk only a little. Take a 15 second break and relax. After that, it was back to running. Did stop a few times to tie my shoe. I wish I was aware of the proper way for runners to tie their shoes before I started running. That little bit of information could have helped me and shed some time off my run.

Aside from the shoelace issue and the times I stopped to catch my breath, I didn’t let those things stop me. I pushed myself till I crossed that line and got to tell myself, “You did it!”. I know that it was only 4 miles. I know people run much further than this. I’ll work my way up there. I am just happy to have actually been apart of a real race and finished. I believe I did fairly well for it being my first actual race and not just running to run. You can view my pace, speed, and elevation by clicking this link. I finished in just a hair under 35 minutes. When the next 4 mile race comes along, I hope I can beat that time. Plus, maybe I can get a photo of me without my phone in my hand trying to time up Runkeeper the moment I crossed the finish line. I’ll run again and soon (soon being June 2nd), I’ll be entering myself into a half-marathon. I better get ready.

Here are my results from the race.

Overall Place: 748

Gender Place: 541

Age Group (30-34): 130

Time: 34:54

Average Pace: 8:44

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pitweston

I like food. I like the smell of cinnamon.

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