Run like you stole something

Photo taken at the start of the 5k Ottawa Race Weekend race.

After countless hours of training, it came down to this: Ottawa Race Weekend. In February when I initially set my goal to run the 5k Ottawa Race Weekend race, I didn't know exactly what I was getting myself into. Over the last three and a half months, I've started from running blocks of four minutes and one minute walking on the treadmill, to struggling to run outside to eventually building up the endurance to run 9k in the hot, hot sun. And the ironic thing about this whole experience is that I have come to love running. Running was something I avoided. I couldn't do it, I told myself. I have bad knees. People like me don't run.

I now love running. I love the challenge. I love pushing my body and my mind. I love that I can get the frustrations of the day out of my system by pounding the pavement. I love the moment where I finish a run. It is all very addicting.

Yesterday was my 5k race. It was an incredible experience to be a part of such a large race. I ran it with my friend, S. The sea of people was overwhelming, but exhilarating. About 7,500 people crossed the finish line. And they all had their individual reasons for running.

To come out of the starting gate, running on Elgin Street, up towards the National War Memorial, cutting across to Colonel By Drive and running under the Mackenzie King Bridge, seeing hundreds of people lined up along the bridge and stairway, cheering us on is a vivid memory I'll have for a long time.

After passing underneath the Mackenzie King Bridge, my memory gets a bit hazy. Perhaps it was the heat and the sun. Perhaps it was the fact we were running a tad too fast in some sections. But I'll always remember the spectators. When turning onto the final leg of the race, before reaching the water station at the 4k mark, one woman held up a sign that said, run like you stole something. At that point I was trying to eek out every step I possibly could and to have people cheering me on helped. I have found it incredibly hard to run in the afternoons in recent weeks. The heat has really kicked my butt, so I knew I'd likely not break my personal best time of 32 minutes that I set in April.

The water station was refreshing and I must give kudos to the man who accidentally flung his water cup at me, hitting me in the back. Although he felt bad, I felt refreshed. At that point things got tough. Both me and S agree that the markers counting down to the finish line were more of a deterrence. Despite getting a high-five from a woman spectator, I soon had to stop for a walking break at the 400 meter mark. Not even Kayne West's Stronger could keep me going for the next 400 meters without a small break. After walking 150 meter walking break, we picked up the pace and ran across the finish line.

While I'm now kicking my butt that I took the walking break, at the time I needed to listen to my body. When I across the finish line, a woman to my right was throwing up and another woman to my left had passed out. And as S correctly pointed out, walking those 150 meters wasn't that big of a deal and even if we had ran that distance, our finishing time wouldn't have been drastically different.

So today I rest, and bask in the glow of my victory of participating in Race Weekend and finishing a race in 34:06.02. Not bad. In all honestly, 34 minutes is my usual finishing time for 5k these days. And considering the fact that I only started running in mid-February, this is a pretty good finishing time.

I'll keep on running. I have a 10k race in mid-June I now have to focus on. After that, who knows where running will take me. But I do know something: if I can run, you can run too. See you at next year at Race Weekend.