Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Back from my first race.


Things I learned when running my first race

  • Preparation is key. Lay out all your equipment the evening before.

  • Best to leave the hunt for safety pins till the very last minute, though.
  • You can run faster than you think. Break away earlier and run a little faster.
  • Only after starting a little slower, though. I was overtaken by just about everybody as the field dashed off downhill, but soon started passing people.
  • Adrenalin will push you on.
  • Tie your laces.

Things I loved about my first race

  • The ladies who put their chairs up front to cheer on people they didn't even know
  • PBJ afterwards!
  • Meeting and chatting with great fellow runners
  • Finishing respectably: 19th place, 3rd in division, just over 34 minutes. Considering there was an 8% grade for almost a mile (yikes!) I was pretty pleased. But I will do better in the next one!
  • The fact that 3rd in Division sounds a lot better if you don't know that there were only five women in my age group
  • The view from the top of the dam
  • The cops cheering us on from their truck
  • The people in Grand Coulee being, without exception, the nicest, friendliest people I have ever met
  • Seeing Phil stand up to meet me as I rounded the finish line


Heading to the starting line

Things I will not eat the night before my next road race

  • Chinese food reminiscent of that served in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, sometime in the mid-seventies.

Animals we saw by beautiful Banks Lake:




  • Quail
  • Mallards
  • Canada geese
  • Swifts
  • Black-billed magpies
  • One very small trout
  • Robins
  • Frogs
  • One small field mouse, trapped under the bed
  • One deer (dead).

What I did when I got home

  • Registered for more races.

Thanks to Sarah and Silvia for good wishes!

2 comments:

Running Chick said...

Woo hooo!! First race...just the beginning of a whole new level of addiction. Welcome to the fold!

Great job and fun post!

Sarah said...

Congrats on a great race! You caught the race bug, too :-)