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Sunday, October 15, 2006

Sunday's 15K

My morning began at 4 am when the alarm went off, and my first reaction? "I don't want to go!" But go, I did. I got up, ate my cereal, had a cup of coffee, and was out the door by 4:45. The run had a 6 am start time -- because some people were running the 30K, it was planned, I assume, that those runners would need the extra time in the dark, cool morning air.

Despite having to get up so early, I too was appreciative of the early start. It was cool and breezy, and I was able to finish the majority of the run before the sun had risen, and that made the run far more pleasant.

So, we ran along A1A ("beachfront avenue!") in the pre-dawn hours, each of us wearing a glowing braclet (mine really bugged me -- it kept bouncing up and down my arm, but I did want passing motorists to spot me and not plow me down, so I grudgingly wore it, but once the sun was up, I chucked it into the grass). A1A runs alongside the coast, but for the most part, our view of the ocean was blocked by beachfront hotels; however, further north on the run, the hotels stopped and it was a perfect view of the Atlantic. So around mile 6, I got to see the sun rise over the ocean, and that made my morning.

The last two miles were hard on me -- the last few of a long run always feel like the longest to me -- and while I wasn't wearing a watch, those two miles were the slowest, I'm sure. In the end, I finished in 103 minutes (which means I averaged 11 minute miles), which is pretty slow, but I wasn't trying to be speedy, I just wanted to finish. After I finished, I grabbed a water and a snack and sat on a bench overlooking the ocean: It was a gorgeous morning.

And the best news to report: no puking -- in fact, I didn't even feel naseous. I came home, showered, took a two hour nap, and just had a big lunch. I would like to spend the rest of the day doing nothing, but, alas, there are papers to grade and laundry to do.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great race! I agree with you about early morning starts..they are hard to get up for, but once you get there, you're glad you went. Sounds like a great experience?

Just curious...What grade/class do you teach?

Erin said...

Congrats Jess!

I bet it was a great morning for running. It was a little breezy inland but it probably felt great.

Was the sunrise "beautiful" as the race announcer beamed about for the last 5K?

Jess said...

Runner26:
I teach college English at a community college.

Erin:
Because this was a "training run" and not a race, there was no announcer, so there wasn't anyone to tell us how bee-u-tiful the sunrise was, darn, right?

It was, however, quite awe-inspiring. I felt a little like Forest Gump enjoying the scenery. (And you know, thinking about Jen-ney.)

Junie B said...

arent the naps after a long run just the best sleeping weather ever???

Anonymous said...

sounds like a spendid morning, indeed! congrats on a finish (sounds like a fast pace to me!) glad you got a nap in those are the best.

Anonymous said...

the entire day sound heavenly! a great distance run, the beach, a nap...now all you need is a few beers while grading papers and i would call it perfect!

congrats all around!! especially to a puke and poop free run!

teacherwoman said...

Way to go Jess! Sounded like quite an early morning, though! Awesome job!

MNFirefly said...

Awesome race! You did great!