Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy 4th of July



Today was the Moraga 4th of July Run. This was my first time doing the run that supports Campolindo High School's Track Team. We arrived just before 8am so that I could get Sydney signed up for the kids run. Scott had done much briefing the night before about racing and no pushing and being a good sport, so Sydney was ready to go. She lines up and patiently waited her turn, and then they were off! My parents were a little further down the course and than I swooped over the end of the course to watch her finish. As I saw her running towards me I was s impressed with how focused she was, I took a few photos and jumped in to run the last stretch with her. She said to me "Mommy, I'm really tired" but I told her to keep running as she was almost to the finish line! She was so pleased to get a medal for running "with all of her friends". I was so proud of her, that was a pretty long for her and I'm certain the longest stretch she has probably ever run, she did awesome!

Next up was Mommy's race. We got lined up and waited. It was nice to be in the crowd, because it was warm standing amongst all of the other runners. I found a nice spot on the inside line and waited for the gun. Bang, and we were off! I was glad I had kept to the outside, because my parents and the girl were there on the sidewalk shortly after we took off, I gave a big wave and smile as they cheered me on. We ran down Moraga Road headed towards Canyon. They had one lane of traffic closed for us and one lane open to vehicles. As we were running a young boy appeared to be looking for whoever he was running with, spun around and out of the cones into the lane of vehicle traffic and nearly was hit by a car, I think we all gasped at the same time, scary. While I love that there were so many young children running this race, it was clear that there should have been some briefing about running and staying on the course. As we approached Camino Pablo, the 5 milers split off to run up Camino Pablo and we continued on heading towards the bike trail. There was a slight incline at the start of the bike trail, but I powered up it. all I kept thinking was of Sydney and how she powered through her race, so I wasn't going to stop and walk. At about the 1 mile mark I started to get a side cramp, so I focused on my breathing and told myself that I only had 10 more minutes of running. Focus on my pace and breathing and just keep going. I hadn't been on this part of the trail in years, I think Scott and I rode our bikes on it once, so I kept trying to figure out where we were and how much further we had to go. As we came out of the bike trail and made a left I knew we were hitting school street and the end was near. They had traffic stopped at the intersection so we could easily run past. As I ran up School Street and towards Safeway, I could see my parents and the girls. I waived and than heard my Mom say "There she is!". They cheered me on and Sydney yelled "Mommy, go get your gold medal!" I practiced my best Molly smile and hope they got a nice photo out of it. From here, I knew I was close, but I couldn't actually see the finish line, which was a bummer, because I didn't know i I should start sprinting or conserve. By the time I saw the line, I picked up my pace but there wasn't much time left and it was single file through the finish line, so I could have passed the woman in front of me, but instead just tailgated her in. I was quite shocked to hear him yell 20 minutes as we passed through, really? I just ran a 10 minute pace? That's my best pace ever!

Feeling really great post race and super pleased with my results. So pleased I think I'm going to go ahead and sign up for the Jail Break Run in 2 weeks. Although, that race may indeed be a kid haul, unless grandparents decided to come out and watch again!

1 comment:

  1. It's awesome that your parents came out and you got to make a bit more of a race out of it! Hope you got a good picture!!!

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