We dined at the hotel and got up early early this morning to run in the 1st Annual Nun Run in Glendale, AZ.
I ran the 5K in 30:56, placing 15 out of 63 in the 20-29 female age group and 103 out of 490 overall.
It was so crazy... my adrenaline was pumping, and I just kept focusing on not going too fast so I didn't burn myself out.
Mile 1 felt good. We started in the middle of the pack, and I slowly passed a few people, but in general, I stayed steady. When I saw the folks in orange with the water cups, they were shouting, "You're at mile 1. Great job!" I looked at my watch and was shocked. It said 9:49. Are you kidding me? I've never run more than 10:42 on the treadmill and that wasn't on trail, nor the uneven rocks we were running on. Not to mention, 10 weeks ago, I could barely do my 1 minute run, 1 minute walk intervals without getting out of breath.
Mile 2 was okay. The first half, I was still buzzing off the fact that I ran under 10 minutes for the first mile. About halfway through, I started to feel a little winded, so I slowed down a bit and just focused on maintaining that speed. I got to the mile 2 water cup holders feeling just slightly winded. My watch read 20:13.
Mile 3 was rough. My left thigh started to ache, and I started to feel more winded. I made a deal with myself that I could run slow until 26 minutes, then I had to pick it up. I actually ended up picking up the speed once I could see the finish line, just before 3 miles. The next thing I knew, I was running through the finish line, and people were telling me where the food was and asking me for my chip.
My watch said 30:45, but my chip time was 30:56. Still not bad for my first race. It means I ran 9:59/mile.
We finished up the day with a nice brunch complete with unlimited mimosas and 4 hours of spa services.
