Running (well, walking) again

A couple of weeks ago I participated in a 5.6K run (~3.5 miles), the JP Morgan Chase & Co. Corporate Challenge.  While it was officially a run, there were plenty of walkers, including myself.  I had good intentions of training for a month+ when I first signed up.  But weeks kept going by, I got home late from work and was not motivated to start running.  A few years ago I got into running for maybe the only time in my life with a "Couch to 5K" podcast that eased you into a running program over 9-12 weeks.  You only run 3 times a week and it combines running and walking to get you to a point where you can finally run the whole time.  The first time I followed the podcast I got to week 6 or 8 and completed a full 20-minute run.  Then I went on vacation to Greece and never got back into the routine.  For some of you 20 minutes may not seem very long at all, but it was HUGE for a former soprinter that couldn't really last more than 2 minutes even in her prime of high school track.  I've never done better than an 8-minute mile. 

The race started on a bridge near the marina and was full of people.  This was the front half and that's the start line with the blue banner in the background.  I was in the middle.  I was waiting to meet someone, didn't realize how many poeple were there and ended up having to walk to the back so my running partner could find me.  The second pic is from the back.  I had been almost right under the balloons and you can see how far away the starting line is now.  Needless to say it took me a few minutes to get to the start line.

The race started at 6, so this was about 10 to 6.  I was already sweating.  If you got stuck in the middle of everyone, there was no breeze and it was so hot.  The final tally was 11,753 particpants.  The race started and begins slightly downhill.  I thought "Ok, I can do this."  After running what seemed like a little while, I was thinking they should really have markers along the way so you can see how far you've progressed.  Then a few minutes later when I saw the 1K sign I realized they already thought of that, I was moving like molasses.

I don't drink many fluids during the day and I think that hurt me quite a bit on race day (in addition to the fact that I was not in shape).   I ran to the first 1K marker, well except for one clog on the race course where everyone had to stop/walk.  But then I had to walk.  A drink station came up, I grabbed a cup and it was like I was in Mario Kart and just hit a speed booster.  I started running again, but maybe lasted 0.5K before my speed booster wore out and I was resigned to walking the rest of the race.  Below are remnants of the hydration station although this is after the actual garbage dump, cups everywhere.

Towards the end of the race, my legs were okay to start running again, but I think was pretty dehydrated at this point and don't think my body could handle trying to exert more effort.  Women twice my age from the local American school were speedily walking by me.  A bit depressing to say the least.

My running partner had long since left me at my request.  She also had not trained but was able to continue running to the finish.  She was texting and cheering me on to the end :).  Coming down the home stretch we passed by the F1 pits.  (*I've bought my ticket for the F1 races in September, so hopefully the next time you see these stalls they'll be full of amazing race cars & crews.)  You can see everyone else is also walking at this point.  I ended with a whopping time of 58:02 (pretty sure I can normally walk a 10 minute mile).  But I finished and picked up my complimentary banana, water and bag of goodies.  To put some perspective on this, the women's winner ran a time of 21:42.  I was 3385th out of 4,088 women.  So clearly not as bad as it could have been.

I got home and my tank top under our team running shirt was soaked! I mean thoroughly soaked.  No wonder I was feeling so bad. I never sweat that much.  I high school (yes, over 10 years ago but still) I didn't need to take water breaks during practice and during the winter rarely broke a sweat.  So it was amazing to me that I had soaked a tank top.  I woke up the next morning a bit grouchy (not really sore).  I think it was all my body's way of telling me I needed more fluids and to train a bit next time.  The humidity in Singapore is really unreal and I completely underestimated the effort required for this little jaunt.

It was a good time though and I know better for next time :).  I have to improve on 58 minutes right?? How can I not :).