Chronicles of a Chubby Runner

This morning was the inaugural Twenty11 Resolution Run. In an effort to get 2011 off on the right foot... pun intended... My DH and I signed up for this 5K run. For the last few weeks its been raining cats and dogs around here, so I was mentally preparing for a wet run. Instead, over the last couple of days it has dried up and the temperature has dropped... not drastically, but enough! The thermometer read 31º when the race started at 10am this morning. That wouldn't be too bad, except for the pretty strong winds from the north which were creating a wind-chill that felt MUCH MUCH colder!

Anyway, we bundled up and headed out... met my brother and my dear, dear running buddy, who just happens to also be my sister-in-law downtown at the start of the race.

My personal goal for the day? Come in under 36 minutes (around a 12 minute mile). I've been training at a slightly faster pace than that, but you never know how things will go once you're out on the street with everyone else!

Well, I was going along pretty good. I was clocking my miles thanks to the Soleus 10K watch my DH got me for Christmas. My first mile came in at around 10:30. Wow! Fast (at least for me!)!!! I slowed down a bit after that 'cause I knew I couldn't maintain that pace the whole way. But at the half-way mark I was at 15:30, and feeling relatively good... then it happened... TRAIN!!! Ugh!

Yes, there were train tracks right in the middle of the course... and of all the times for a VERY long train to come through... I could see the gates coming down... I could see the beginning of the train in the distance and I knew there was no way I was going to beat it. Oh well, at least I wasn't alone. A bunch of us shuffled around trying to keep warm and not let our legs get too cool while waiting for a long and slow train to pass. Finally it did and we were all able to go on our way again. Unfortunately, this did not help my personal goal. My official clocked time came in somewhere a little over 43:00. I will post my official time here when they are available.

My unofficial time, according to my own timekeeping? Around 33:30... giving me around a 10:45 pace. Yea, Me!

Anyway, this is wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2011... let's all get up and  get moving!