winning

So yesterday I raced (uhhh ran) the St. Albert 10 miler. I woke up not feeling like going. Ok, but I promised a Drug Court grad that I would give him a ride there. And I had paid his entry for it. So I felt pretty responsible to him to get him there.

So off I went to Tim Hortons to get my pre-race staple of a double double.. and then to T's apartment to pick him up. He was a bit late getting out of the apartment and I almost sighed a bit of relief that I might be able to just go home and sleep. After all, I'm not going to be racing this. After all, I'm just going to be back of the pack again.

Oh but T came out the door all excited for his first 10 mile race. And I grabbed ahold of some of that enthusiasm and gave it my best to smile and be happy.

(have I mentioned how crabby and out of sorts I've been lately? a theme that has followed me from day to day since February)

The race was on and I had my garmin primed for 2 hours. I couldn't remember my time from last year but considering how my right hip felt ever since the "getting lost at blackfoot" 32 + km run last week I wasn't aiming to go fast. The garmin started chirping at about 2 miles. Data was full. I turned it off, f-it.

St. Albert 10 miler is truly a beautiful race. Despite having a horrid experience the year it snowed and coming in DFL, I love this race. I really do. It was hot and the sun was baking my arms, the sweat was running, my heart was pumping and my feet were moving. I've noticed that I can do A) shuffle my feet or B) think about engaging my glutes and propelling forward from my feet. When I do b I go faster but cannot last as long but I feel GREAT when I do A I go slower and feel like shit. So I tried to do B as much as possible. I was passing more than being passed. I ran with a woman for a little bit who was doing her first 10 miler. I tried to convince her she should do the Women's Half Marathon in June. She wasn't feeling so convinced. I will be looking for her at that event though!

I finished 2 minutes slower than last year. Didn't shock me. I felt ok but my hip bothered me on all the hills at the end.

T finished in 1:15 - He's so new to running and just doing so great! I was super proud of him and he was too.

Afterwards we stuck around for the door prizes. For some odd reason I won the bike from Cranky's Bike Shop. It's a basic aluminum Gary Fisher Road Bike which is EXACTLY the kind of bike I wanted for riding around with friends and not feeling pretentious or worrying about being down in the aerobars. Weird.

T kept saying: That's crazy! I can't believe it!

Well neither could I.

I felt a sheer rush of adrenaline at first and after sitting down with a brand new bike I felt guilt. Much guilt. I almost donated it to T right there. Here I have a fancy tri bike at home what the heck am I doing with this road bike now! So many people don't even have one bike....that dissipated a bit. Not a lot. When I got home though the look on John's face when I wheeled it in the front door was too worth it. I suddenly was excited :)

Pretty neat day.