Today I made my running debut.  It was pretty good, for me anyway.  Especially if you consider that I’ve never been much of a runner.  I would do some running for lacrosse in college, but that was a joke compared to my ski training now.  I’ve come to embrace running since I’ve become a skier, but that hasn’t helped out too much.  The most I’ve run seriously is 3 or 4 times a week, but even that was rare. 

So, today was my first foot race ever.  I guess this isn’t hard to believe since I’ve only done about 9 ski races.  I certainly still have a certain amount of hatred for running, but it was nice to not have to do a whole lot of prep last night, waxing skis, worrying about the weather, etc…  It was also nice to be able to sleep in my own bed, and race right here at camp.  It was Camp Gray’s annual Happy Camper Fun Run 5k.  I was definitely spoiled today, getting to sleep in until 8:00 on a race morning.  I’m used to having to wake up as early as 4:30 to get to a ski race on time.    Having people I know cheering me on at several places on the course was also quite a treat.

Oh, and I did pretty well for myself.  My time was 26:28 and I was pretty satisfied with that.  In a couple years I will hopefully be smoking that time, but it’s a good place to start.  I know it’s pretty slow, and this wasn’t a tremendously competitive field, but remember, I’ve never run before!  Besides, I was only about 40 seconds behind the first female, and she was cruising.    I was definitely hurting for most of the race, so it was an accomplishment for me to be able to push through that and keep up the same pace.  I even managed to dig deep and pick it up the last 1/3 of a mile.  The last couple hundred yards I poured on everything I had (with a little motivation from a friend) and passed someone who had passed me in the beginning of the race.  Man did that feel good (although my lungs didn’t feel so hot).

So, overall, I set a pr today running the fastest 5k of my life, I felt like I gave it my all, and my legs felt great.  I couldn’t have expected any more of myself.  Next year, though, I expect a lot more: despite my positive outlook on my performance today, there is still a loud voice inside my crying out, “I should have run harder!”

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