Bluenose 5 km Run

A couple of weeks ago, I participated in the Bluenose 5 km run. I had been looking forward to participating in this run because last year I had sit on the side of Citadel Hill watching everyone else enjoy the experience of the run. I felt left out last year on the side of the hill and I didn't want to feel like that ever again. I wanted to be in the physical shape that would allow me to participate and now I can say that I am.
The last run that I did was the Fit-4-Lit 5k in April and my time was 32:08. My goal for 5km is to be able to run it in less than 30 mins. I was hoping that I would be able to achieve that goal at the Bluenose. In order to reach that goal, I would have to cut 2:08 from my time. That is quite a chunk of time to cut in one month especially since I had not run since then, but I was determined that I was going to do it!
The weather was perfect, as far as I was concerned. It was on the cool side and it was not raining. I actually would rather it be raining than a nice warm sunny day for a run.
I met up with some friends from the gym, Allana and Rebecca and we started the run together. We were the last ones to cross the start line and I was feeling really good.
Allana is a beautiful, natural runner. She makes running look easy! She is a faster runner than I am and I knew that I would not be able to run the whole way with her but I wanted to keep her in my view for as long as I could. Since we were the last ones to cross the start line, we ended up passing quite a lot of people who were walking on the run so it was hard to keep my eye on her. There were times that she would slow down and let me catch up to her. Then she would go just far enough ahead to give me something to run towards.
We were running along and before I knew it, we were at the 1 km mark. I felt really good and looked at my watch and saw that I was pretty much on track for finishing the run in under 30 minutes. BUT, I still had 4 kms to go. The 2nd km mark came pretty quickly but I also knew that it is about the 3 km mark that it starts to get hard for me. I tried not to focus on the fact that I still had the toughest kms left and I decided to take it 1 km at a time.
I was familiar with the course and knew that there was a hill at the end of the run and that I would need to leave a little extra for that last hill.
I was concentrating on my breathing and my stride and staying strong. I told myself, "I am strong, I can do this" and I repeated it to myself over and over again. Then I was at the 3 km mark. I thought to myself, "Wow, I feel really good for being at the 3 km mark." I checked my watch and I knew that I was close to being able to finish in under 30 mins. I just had to keep up my pace and finish strong.
Up to this point, the course was basically flat, but we had come across a bit of a downhill. I really tried to take advantage of the downhill to get a bit ahead to help me out at the end of the run with the hill that I was going to have to face.
The 4 km mark was right in front of me and I knew that it was going to be really close. I began to pick up my pace a little and I was feeling good...then the hill was upon me!
I looked at my watch and saw that it was going to be too close to call and I really wanted to make it in under 30 mins so I decided to lay it all out there. I picked up my pace and decided that I was going to do whatever it took to get there. I kept going and going and going and then it caught up with me. I did NOT have control of my breathing, I had an incredible urge to pee and I had an overwhelming feeling that I was going to vomit...but I kept going. Until I began to retch! Yes, you read it right, I began to retch...so I had to walk. Allana tried to encourage me to continue running but the retching was keeping me from running. I really did not want to vomit, so I walked about 30 seconds or so. Once I got control of my breathing the retching stopped and the urge to pee went away and I was able to run across the finish line.
I knew that I had not finished the run in under 30 min but I also knew that I was pretty close. I figured that my time was around 31 mins which I was happy with compared to my last run.
I received my participation metal and went inside for some fuel...a granola bar, yogurt, and chocolate milk.
Afterwards, I checked the finish times and my time was 30:41. Over all, I am happy with my time. Especially considering that I had cut 1:27 from my last time.
You know what...the Johnny Miles 5 km run is a few weeks away and I AM GOING TO DO IT IN UNDER 30 MINS! So stay tuned to hear about it!