Good Run, Bad Run

Flying high off my awesome 10K performance last week, all the pressure was off today, as my run buddy and I participated in a local 5K in our hometown. I awoke early this morning at 5am, to the sound of thunder and then my house literally shook. Some strong thunderstorms were in the middle of blowing through--which is PRIME sleep time for me and I prayed that it would be clear by the time the race was to start. Running in the rain isn't particularly my idea of a good time, but if I had to do it, well....at least a 5k is not too far--I would slug through it.

I woke up at 7:45am, not feeling really rested, which was odd considering I fell crashed on the couch the night before at like 10:30PM. Got dressed and had some baked blueberry oatmeal for breakfast and got myself ready. I wasn't really feeling it, but I had been looking forward to this run so I told myself no excuses! My run buddy knocked on the door at 8:30am and got our bibs on and tied our chips to our shoes before making our way to the race. It was literally like a mile from my house. It was nice to see our little town have a decent turn out for this event. It goes to show that people were supporting the cause (a church going to Africa to build churches) and that there were people taking a step in taking their health and fitness seriously.

The sun was peaking out behind the clouds a little and it was quite muggy after those storms. Quite different from the crisp 50-degree weather we ran in last week (to which I very much prefer). We started the race quite quick. It was very familiar territory for me, as I run this route quite often on my training runs. Mostly flat with a few inclines and declines, nothing extreme. I knew it was gonna make for a fast run, but only a few minutes into the run my heart-rate was substantially higher than usual. Maybe it was the adrenaline or the heat, or excitement--I have no idea, but I never quite got it to go down to where I was comfortable.

My run buddy, was MOVING. Like really MOVING. Which is amusing, because all before the race, she had the jitters! She was nervous about this race. Gotta love the mental game of running. I chalked it up to her KILLING her 10K last week and now she had expectations of this race. We stayed together up until a little over 1.5mi and I just had to take a 15 sec walk break. My heart was pounding outta control. I told her to run ahead and she kept trucking forward. Then, it was just me and my thoughts.

For a 5K, I was miserable. I was mad at myself. Thoughts flooding my brain. I shouldn't of had that last piece of birthday cake at dinner last night. I really need to throw away all these leftover birthday treats, because they really aren't doing anything for me -_- I shouldn't of had those Wingstop fries (that I LOVE! Ahhhh) that my husband brought home last night--AFTER I had already had a huge dinner. You would think I would know better by now. Only eat the things that I am accustomed to eating before a race! *facepalm*

I get to mile marker 2 and my left foot starts to tingle. Now, I don't think I've mentioned this problem before in my blog--I've been vague and mentioned it was "runner problems". Well, for some reason the past couple months, my left foot (only) has the tendency to go numb on my runs. Usually around mile 2 or 3. Usually it comes and goes. If I stop to walk a bit it'll go away and I may have to do that a few more times before it completely goes away. Sometimes on my long training runs, I've literally had to stop, take off my shoe and massage my foot. I recently talked to my chiropractor about it this week and he recommended a podiatrist and inserts for my shoes. EVERYBODY has told me I need to change my shoes. I've got about 300 miles on these shoes and I didn't think they were ready (except for the fact that I'm about the poke a hole through the top with my big toe....) but I guess that can be the first thing I try to help figure out what the problem is.

OKAY--off my tangent, back to the race! Mile 2 to mile 3, I felt like I was running with a brick for a foot. The numbness didn't go away this time like it usually does. I pushed through anyway. I ended up with a official PR for a 5k with this race at a time of 33:33. First thing I did after coming through the finish line was sit down, throw off my shoe and massage some feeling back into my foot. My run buddy ended up finishing at 31:48, a PR for her AND she nabbed the final spot for an AWARD for our age group (I poked in at 5th). Super proud of her! She ran hard and she totally deserved it, she's been training and running her butt off...but I couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of disappointment in myself. That could of been me. Even though I had my PR, I still felt like it wasn't good enough. My time shows I had a good run, but my mind is telling me it was a bad one.

That's when I gotta remind myself why I run. Because I love it. I don't do it to win awards or be first to finish--I do it because I love being drenched in sweat and the feel of the pavement under my feet. I really hope that my foot issue isn't serious and that I can get it remedied quickly. I don't have anymore races until my half on April 13th. Until then, I will be slowly crossing items off my list hoping I get it all figured out before then. Wish me luck! Happy running!