The last few weeks have been absolutely wild! On the 6th, I flew to Los Angeles to cover three movie press junkets back-to-back for Ghostbusters, Bad Moms, and Kubo and the Two Strings. I came home for two days, then flew to New York City for the Blogger Bash conference. And because I am insane ambitious, I decided to run my second-ever 5k just hours after I arrived home from New York!
The Seaside Beach Run has been on my bucket list since the beginning of this year. I really wanted to compete in it for two reasons: First, it follows the same route on the beach that I already run regularly on my own, and second, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the race, making it a neat piece of local history. Although I knew the timing would be tough so close to my trip, I decided to go for it and sign up.
My time in LA & NYC ended up being the most physically demanding trip I’ve done. Because my schedule was so hectic, I was busy every moment for two weeks with no downtime and very little sleep. New York is extremely hot and humid this time of year, and I was constantly drenched in sweat, dehydrated and on my feet all day, walking 7 miles through Manhattan in one afternoon alone. Also, because the conference was held on a yacht, I also experienced some seasickness. None of this is meant as a complaint, just setting the scene for what happens next. đ
When it was time to come home, I ended up running through JFK in order to catch my flight. As I ran to my gate, I thought to myself that this was good practice for the following day’s race. đ I landed at PDX at 12:30 AM, and then had the two hour drive home to Seaside. We arrived home around 2:30 or 3 in the morning – we had to stop for gas and coffee! – and I slept for two hours, then got up and put my running shoes on for the race, which was taking place at 8:55 AM. I told you I was nuts!
Jai and I arrived at the beach and I began stretching out before heading to the starting line. When the race started, I set off running at a fast pace, but could quickly feel myself lagging. I slowed my running speed and just focused on breathing and keeping a maintainable pace. My body was wrecked from the trip – everything hurt, and I didn’t realize it yet, but I was also coming down with a cold – so I decided to scale down my goal from “Personal best” to “Finish the race, period”. I reminded myself as I ran that just getting out of bed that morning was an achievement, so it was OK if everyone else passed me.
When I crossed that finish line, it was a celebration: I did it! Not just the race, but everything leading up to it: It really was a great way to cap off all the hard work I had done the previous two weeks.
I placed 10th in my age division, 16th in the overall women’s division, and 35th overall for both men and women, with an overall time of 35:27 and an average page of 11:25. Certainly not my best time and I won’t be breaking any records, but I achieved my own goal of running the full 3.1 miles without stopping or walking once, and I did it under pretty extreme circumstances, so I feel good about that!
After the race, we stuck around to enjoy a picnic lunch and watch the awards ceremony. I find it inspiring to see the top finishers in the women’s division as examples of what is possible. After the awards were handed out, there was a raffle drawing where Jai won a balance ball set, so that was a really fun way to cap off the morning!
Also, I just have to say…after running the entire 5k, I was still sweating much, much less than I was after just 5 minutes outside in Manhattan. This gives you an idea of just how humid it was. đ
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