Miss Rachel

The race I did on Sunday was OK: I finished, and I didn’t come in last. I came in 457th out of 480. I walked the first two miles and ran the last (the miles were marked along the course). It was a flat course, and the scenery was beautiful, featuring one of my favorite things: old houses because it was in Old Wethersfield, a historic district in Wethersfield, Connecticut.

It was kind of a solitary race for me. I ran by myself, but I did manage to exchange hellos with a few spectators and a cop near the end who told me I was almost there. At the finish line, they announced my name – wow, way to make me feel special – so I put my arms up in the air. Then I collected a bottle of water, found some shade and managed to lower myself onto the grass and wait for Sweetie to finish the 10K. Even walking as much as I did I was pretty beat: I acted kind of like my dog Blue when I was trying to sit down on the grass afterward. He has 3 “regular” legs and 1 deformed leg so he always kind of flops when he lies down: thunk. I kind of “thunked” down too, and I don’t have a deformed leg. I was pretty hurtin’ there for a while, but I walked today, and I’m feeling much better.

I did manage to make dinner for us Sunday night: curried cauliflower and peas served over “jubilee blend” brown rice. Remember rice? I love quinoa and pasta so much I sometimes forget about rice, but it’s nice now and then.

We had a nice dose of cooler weather last week, but the summer heat has returned full force this week with potentially record-breaking high 90s. Fortunately, I don’t start school until the weekend after Labor Day weekend. Much as I look forward to returning to the beautiful campus, the current weather is not putting me in very back-to-school frame of mind.

In other news, I re-reading The Secret Garden, a book from my childhood and it’s even better than I remembered.

And I’ve bought a “season pass” on iTunes to Mad Men (now in it’s fourth season), and I’m loving it as much as ever.

As I mentioned in previous posts, I’m planning on doing a 5K this summer after I’ve gotten some training done for it. But last week I ended up doing a 5K without training for it.  The gym at work was sponsoring a *fun* 1 mile walk and 5K run in honor of National Employee Health and Fitness Day.  A coworker asked me if I was going to do the 5K,  and I hadn’t thought about it too much, but decided why not.  The other three members of my (underwriting) team also decided to do it, and I got pretty pumped up about it even thought I really wasn’t trained for it.

The day of the race was beautiful – bright and sunny and 80-ish degrees. The temperature and sun didn’t bother me, but the running did.  After we started, everyone else in the race passed me, and I do mean everyone.  It didn’t take me long to realize that I was last.  As I continued trudging along, I realized that I was probably going to stay last.  I started feeling a bit nauseated, and then I developed a stitch in my side, but I kept going, albeit slowly. After a while some of the fast starters began to pass me as they headed back down the trail. There are some really competitive men at work and you could see they were all serious about the “fun run.”  However, I did appreciate how one of my coworkers, who is training for an Ironman (!) said, “good job Rachel!” when he passed me.  I thought that was nice of him.  It’s like, he could see I was working, and that this wasn’t easy for me.

Fortunately, I was able to turn off the trail to do the loop so I didn’t have to see everyone going by me as I was still heading out. Through the whole race, I tried to keep my friend V, who was wearing a yellow tank top, in my sites. A couple times I lost her, but for the most part, I was able to see her, even though she was far ahead of me.

The feeling of nausea and the stitch in my side went away, but the race seemed really long.  A couple times I thought of walking, but I was afraid if I walked I wouldn’t be able to start running again.  So I kept running, even though my pace had slowed so much I was almost walking.  There were a few a people around the course to direct and cheer the runners, but by the last mile me and V (who was far ahead of me) were the only two people still running. My friend S actually came out and ran with me when I got near the end to keep me going (what a sweetheart, huh?) and when I got to the finish line, I found that some of  my other friends and coworkers were waiting there for me. They didn’t have to do that but they did, and I told them how much I appreciated their support.

I finished in 43:01 (approximately; there were no chips) which is actually slower than the 5K I did in December, but I was also less ready for this one.  I honestly didn’t really feel bad about being last.  I was just so glad I was able to pull it off.  I emailed my brother about it, and he wrote back, “Glad to hear you did the 5K!  I really try to think of races as a personal accomplishment.  It’s all about ME.  Think of how many people didn’t even try.” Exactly.

Last Sunday was the O’Hartford Race.  I did not run it, but I did go to support Sweetie (who finished in under 30 minutes – w00t!).  I usually think St. Patrick’s Day is kind of silly, but I have to admit that despite the chilly, gray weather, the atmosphere was fun and the good time was contagious. Lots of funny costumes and a mini race featuring people running with glasses of beer on trays, trying not to spill. I decided that I want run this race next year (the 5K part, not beer on trays part).

I sent Sweetie off to the start and then I watched an Irish string trio and got a Hooker Ale before heading off to the arch to cheer people on. I managed to see Sweetie and get his attention too.  Then I walked to the finish line to meet him and passed by this cool sign with arrows pointing to various attractions in Hartford.

We saw people heading to an Irish pub, but we headed home after the race and I made up some yummy guacamole which we enjoyed while watching a Dr. Katz Professional Therapist video.

After the guacamole and video, we took a nap together.  It was a good day.