The Mother's Day Classic Fun Run

I have finally done a Fun Run - the Mother's Day Classic 2011 4km Run. I know for a lot of people out there 4 kms isn't very far, but for me it is a very long way to run and I did it. I even beat my own PB (with a bathroom stop). I completed the course in just under 32 mins - I know I'm slow, but I'm only working on distance at the moment and I will worry about speed later. I am pretty sure there are no Olympic Games in my running future so I am learning to run for me and for fun.

I don't just want my life to be about weight loss anymore. I read a fantastic guest post from Janae (The Hungry Runner Girl) called Finding your Workout Motivation over at Peanut Butter Fingers (Julie is in Europe for 13 days and has a guest post everyday while she is away). Janae summed it up perfectly :

"Remember that working out isn’t just about burning calories and losing weight (I used to workout for that reason only and I dreaded it). Exercise for your mental health, to do something positive for yourself, to take care of your body, to ward off disease and sickness, to improve your confidence and build relationships."

This is what I want to be able to do - I was starting to become overwhelmed with just the weight loss, my whole life started to revolve around my weight - what I could and couldn't eat. I was left feeling demotivated and deprived most of the time, but since incorporating a running aspect into my life (as slow as I may be) it is starting to help me spread the focus and hopefully help me find the balance I am looking for.

*Fun Run*

It was cold to start with, it was around 11 degrees C, maybe less. I found the first 100 ms or so a little tough and was wondering why I was putting myself through this and then I thought of Sheryl over at Bitch Cakes who does Fun Runs in the snow, like the Grid Iron 4 mile Run - what was I complaining about? Once I warmed up a little more, I felt a lot better about the whole thing.

I was crusing along pretty well, when I hit a massive hill, I knew there was a hill, but I didn't know how big it was, I almost died when I saw it. I slowed down to a shuffle (not on purpose either) and just pushed myself to make it up the hill. About half way up, I just wanted to give up, but I thought of Sammy over at Happy Family, Healthy Family and how she was running the same race (in a different State) and she was running twice my distance. I just kept telling myself that Sammy was "running the 8 kms so the least I could do was finish the 4 kms". This seemed to work and finally I made it to the top and the good news is, it was all down hill from there.

I felt great when I saw the 3k sign and I thought "great only 1k to go", but a little later I saw another 3k sign, I was a little deflated and confused, but just kept going. I even managed to pick up some speed and started over taking a few people who I had seen fly past me earlier. It was such a great feeling seeing that finish line up ahead and hearing everyone cheering.

I couldn't see my husband or kids, but he found me a little later, after returning my timing chip and collecting my showbag full of goodies and took a photo of me. He said that I had "run past too fast to get a photo" crossing over the line - I laughed, imagine me running too fast. He also said that he was "very proud" of me.

#3 Run outside - not just on a treadmill

Part of #36 - 1 of 10 Fun Runs

I felt wonderful when I finished. I understand what my husband means now when he says that "your clothes don't help you". Shocking isn't it? That shirt is actually 3 sizes too big for me now (it's a 24) - I bought it when I first started working out and I had no idea how big they were on me, they actually make me look bigger than I am, no wonder I don't "see it".

Here are my HRM results for the run :

Sunday, 8 May 2011

• 31.53 mins
  
• 407 calories
• 178 - avg. HR
• 229 - max. HR
• 2.39 mins in zone

My heart rate is pretty high, but I think it may have been because I was a little nervous about the whole run. When I checked my HRM to make sure it was working properly, my resting heart rate was 94, so it was already high before I started the run.

I hope everyone had an amazing Mother's Day!