Sunday, May 11, 2008

A PR and a Hug!

Getting started has been tough for me lately. I'm not sure why. Friday evening, after work, I just sat around trying to decide (or was that not trying to decide?) whether or not to go for a bike ride! I did and loved every 26 miles of it. Averaged @15 miles an hour but that includes stops and all. If you just look at the straight aways with no traffic stops or hill there are a couple of 20 minute spots that I averaged 19-20 mph.

The flat tire sucked. I have to get in my head that I can't take off without checking the tire pressure. I am so spoiled by my old bike tires that never went flat except for the necessary inflate in the spring. Live and learn I guess (unfortunately some people seem to just live).

Saturday I just worked on strength, yoga, recovery and playing with the kids. My little 5 year old just loves to do the Yoga DVD with me!

This morning I drove out to the Mall of America to run the Susan G. Komen Twin Cities Race for the cure. I signed up for this quite a while ago being motivated by a friend of Angela's (my wife) breast cancer diagnosis. Add this on top of another friend, Cheryl , having surgery and chemo a few years ago as well as coworkers and other acquaintances, I just felt a need to do my part. So I registered, kicked in another $100 and had a 5K on the schedule for May.

If you didn't know, I am an RN! Therefore, I work with women, I'm around women all the time, much more than men. I hear and see how women and particularly mothers get the major household responsibilities. I see how some doctors, some patients and family treat me differently than my coworkers. Usually to my advantage, that is, but not always. Personally, I think some of this natural (if you've got the breasts, you've got the food), but I also think some of it is societal. I am not claiming to be any better. Angela gets the bulk of the responsibility here too. Some of that is situational, she was home to learn the gluten-free, casein free diet while I was at work + overtime. If the kids need something, they go upstairs and ask her instead of me sitting right next to them. Then add my decision to start training for endurance events, you start seeing the picture of a typical "American" household. For the record, I often do dishes and laundry and I really, really try to be sensitive to doing my part and getting her free time in. (also for the record I probably fail too many times to mention)

But all of this just makes me more sensitive to the effects that any illness, let alone breast cancer with its many more societal aspects, can have on the woman of the household. And thus on the rest of the household. The woman (mother) is the caregiver, she is the one you go to when you have a boo boo. She is not the one that is suppose to have the boo boo. She is the one that you go to for strength and encouragement, not the one that needs it! I'm not saying that this is right, I'm just saying it is what it is.

So even the scare of illness, cancer is unimaginable in many aspects. We're praying for you momo!

On that note, I rocked the 5K.

If you want to compare to my last 5K in October, I improved from 28:30 to 24:48. This is a 3 minute 42 second PR.
You can argue that this is the obvious. I just started running last May and worked on my run quite a bit this winter, so of course I PR'd being that it's been so long.
And you would almost be right.
So I looked up my training 3.1 pr's. On April 17th, I ran it in 27:31, so that is still a pr by 2:41

It could have been a little better but this was a Komen run, not a racer's race. You couldn't help being a little emotional looking at people's pictures on their backs and some with tears in their eyes. You couldn't help love the fact that this cancer had people out running that otherwise might not be running.

But one thing did surprise me. At @ the mile 2 marker there was a left turn that a group of people made into a survivors corner (or perhaps the event planned it?). There was a huge sign stating "survivors corner" and "hug a survivor" and nobody, and I mean nobody, was stopping to hug anybody. I'm thinking "what the hell?" Yes, I wanted my best time, but why am I here? So I stopped and gave someone a hug. Yes, just one person, not more! I didn't look back to see if anybody followed my example. I think that some of the slower runners later probably did! I'm sure some people had there reasons for not stopping, why didn't I hug 2 or 3 people? So, I'm trying not to be judgmental.

As far as my racing, I am most pleased with the fact that I know I have more potential. I could have raced a little harder I think but I just don't know how to gauge it yet. I don't know what that potential is, but I plan to find out.

Lap 1, 8:13
Lap 2, 7:58
Lap 3, 7:59 (first time I have run consecutive sub 8 pace miles)
Lap 3.1 6:51
Avg pace 8:00
Total time 24:48



Happy Mothers Day to Angela and all the mothers out there!

8 comments:

  1. You are getting So Damn Speedy!!

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  2. Congrats! I'm doing the Columbus Race for the Cure this coming weekend, although I'm walking with a friend and her mom (a survivor) and doing it in memory of my aunt who passed away about 14 years ago. And to get a PR at a race like this - that's great!

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  3. Wow, you're splits are great for the run! Way to go. Loved your post too.

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  4. Awesome job on the PR! And that was very nicely said about women/mothers. And I'm glad to see you help with laundry and dishes. ;)

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