Runner Girl

January 21, 2012

This morning I ran the 4 Mile Ringling Bridge Run in Sarasota.  I only had to slow to a walk twice and I finished the race in an official time of 45:30.0 (an 11:23 min/mi).  I was 54th out of 110 in my age group.  I'm very pleased!  Thanks to Yvonne and Kim, who encouraged me to do this, and to Kim and Todd who kept me going at a good pace for the entire run!  Kim talked me through the last quarter-mile or so and even pushed me to sprint over the finish line!  And, Yvonne was there at the end cheering both of us on.  Wayne was there with me taking pictures and encouraging me.
It was a beautiful south Florida morning - cool enough to make it pleasant and very sunny.  I felt great through the entire 4 miles except for the "Darth Vader" effect going up the bridge both times and that nasty little incline right before the end.  And, once I caught my breath, I was fine.  This was a great experience and I'm seriously thinking about participating in another one in February or March.  Yeah, I seem to be hooked!  I'd love to improve my time and my rank in my age group!
Wayne made a funny, but very true, comment this afternoon.  After telling me how proud he was of me for working toward and meeting this goal, he said he was even more impressed with it because running is not easy for me.  Some people make it look graceful and easy, but when I run it's not a particularly pretty thing (think about the difference between a gazelle and an elephant).  He wasn't being mean, just making a pretty astute observation (the gazelle and elephant reference is mine, not his).
Several interesting notes - there were 3000 people participating in this event, the overall winner ran it in a little over 20 minutes, and my bib number was 911!