Over in a Flash, But Worth It

It was a cool Saturday morning in the woods in the appropriately named town of Woodside. I was excited, but not overly – I had been practicing and training for this moment for a long, long time. In a way, I had been waiting for this day ever since I was a teenager. I spent countless days dreaming of how amazing it would feel. Especially at the end, after all of my hard work paid off.

On December 5 it finally happened. I lost my racing virginity. I ran my first ever race. A 10k trail race.

The event was not only a momentous occasion because it was my first, it was a significant milestone in my recovery. Four months prior to race day, after spending three months in bed in a lot of pain, I had back surgery for a herniated disc. The ruptured disc had been pressing against my sciatic nerve, rendering it unusable (to this day my left calf is weak, but it’s getting better every day). Months of physical therapy and 5 days a week of walking increasing amount of miles had brought me a long way.

I won’t bore you with a turn-by-turn analysis and recap of the race. I will say, though, that it was a lot of fun. I ran uphill more than I thought I would, no doubt due to the extra adrenaline from running with other people (I usually ran the course solo). I did keep my heart rate from maxing out, which was a goal of mine (I have a long history of overdoing it and then suffering for it).

It really helped having run the course several times prior to race day. I knew which hills were tough, and which ones I could run. I also knew when the trail turned downhill for good, allowing me to pace myself accordingly. All of this helped me come in 20 minutes sooner than my goal time with a pace almost 4 minutes faster than I had hoped for!

Come to think of it, the race was rather like sex. A gentle beginning followed by a steep climb, then I came rushing down the hill in a manic crescendo to the finish line. But in this case, finishing prematurely was a good thing!

What was your first?