I See Fit People

The last weekend in June I went to Sunriver, Oregon.  We rented a house for the weekend and my husband, daughter, five old friends and three new friends all stayed.  Almost everyone was participating in an activity at the Pacific Crest Sports Weekend.  

Friday-Dan did the Tour de Crest, a 55 mile bike ride. 

Saturday-Joe and Wade participated in the Long Course Endurance Triathlon (1/2 Ironman distance). Tony did a 1/2 Marathon and Betsy did the Long Course Duathlon.  

Sunday-Meighan did a 5k and I did the 10k.  Joe and Kristy did the Olympic Triathlon and Wendie did the Olympic Duathlon.  

Josh and Mary were sherpas extraordinaire!  

Notice that Joe is listed twice.  Nope, not a typo.  Last year he did the Ironman.  This year he wanted to see if he could do back to back events.  He not only did them, he did them well.  As always, I'm super proud of my husband and all he has accomplished.  

I was frustrated going into the weekend because I knew that I wasn't going to be going fast or even coming close to getting a PR.  My husband pointed out (firmly!) that I needed to cut myself some slack because it isn't like I just am choosing to not run.  I work, I am going to school, I have a daughter, I have puppy, and I took students to DC/NYC.  Something has to give and right now it's running.  He is so right, I shouldn't feel guilty and should just do the best I can.  

I found this on Facebook and it was a very good reminder to myself.  I'm out there.  I'm trying.  I'm not quiting.  Those things alone make me a winner. 

I have done the Pacific Crest 10k once before in 2011 when I had been running for about a year.  I had a terrible time with the heat and breathing at the higher altitude.  Here's my result from 2011:

I was in the "Athena" category because of my weight.  I didn't like being in that category.  

This was my results from this years 10k:

Pretty similar pace. 

It is weird to look at these two results and realize how similar they are.  The races felt completely different.  In 2011 I had to walk about half of it and this year I only walked about 1/2 a mile.  The main difference was that this year I felt fit.  I felt like I was just out having a good time, enjoying the day.  I didn't push it or try and crush my time because I knew that would end up frustrating me.  I ran almost the whole thing but walked up a hill for about 1/2 a mile at mile 4.  In 2011 I was working my very hardest and that time was fast for me.  It is strange to feel more fit than I was before but the time be almost the same.  My goals for next year are to run this 10k with a 12 minute pace or lower and to be able to get a womans shirt for the race instead of having to get a mens shirt.

Miss Meighan and I before our races started.

I got this shirt at the Expo at Pacific Crest.  This is on the front. 

This is a small circle on the back shoulder.  :-)  

Miss Meighan did great with her 5k and I loved seeing her smiling face at the finish line!!  New friend Wade was also there cheering me on.  :-)  

Finish line at the Pacific Crest 10k

On Sunday one of my friends had some struggles during her Olympic Triathlon.  The open water swim was really hard for her.  She didn't finish the swim but she did get on her bike and finish the triathlon.  I was so proud of her that she did the rest of the race!!  Then on the Monday after she posted this on Facebook:

I feel very blessed to have found wonderful, supportive, kick ass, don't give up people!  Kristy is definitely one of them!

On the drive home I sent a message to a friend of my mine who is also a teacher.  She had been asking me about the side effects of Metformin because her doctor wanted her to start it too.  I suggested she begin taking it at the beginning of summer vacation because by the time school starts in the fall the worst of the side effects would be over.  I was checking in to see how it was going.  We sent several messages back and forth, chit chatting mostly and the conversation turned to fitness.  She is planning on doing a 5k next fall and wanted to know how to work up to running the whole thing.  I told her how I just ran a little farther every time I went out until I got up to running the whole 5k.  This was one of her messages to me which cracked me up because it sounds exactly like me and all the frustrations I have had the past year and a half!!

I spent all weekend comparing myself to all the fit people in the house at Sunriver that were kicking ass.  I do not see myself in their league at all, not even in the same vicinity at all.  And then I get a message were someone is saying they want to be FIT LIKE ME!!!??  What?  I have so far to go, I'm not a Fit People!  And I admire her so much because she kicked cancer's ass!  My health issues are annoyances in comparison!  

I need to remember, and I have said this before, that I am not competing with anyone but myself.  So I am not allowed to compare myself to others.  I also need to remember that I am my harshest critic and other's do not see me the way I do.  Evidently some people think I'm fit!  lol  I also need to remember that my journey has had some obstacles along the way that I have no control over.  Health hiccups that have made my journey slower than most.  But I am heading in the right direction so I'm going to keep plugging away.  Quiting is not an option!

Today I went for a run while Joe was doing an open water swim at Foster Lake.  It was about 8:30 a.m. and it was already hot!  I did pretty good for the first two miles but ran out of gas for the last mile.  I'm going to need to work on that.  Better hydration and food before I go.  I am going to work on doing that same run only faster when Joe is swimming.  :-)