I'm an Iron(wo)man: the 2010 Annapolis Striders' Anniversary 15K

This is the face of abject misery:

That's me, last December, at the 2009 Annapolis Striders' Anniversary 15K, aka: one of the worst mornings of my life. Flush with my success at my first 5-mile race in November '09 (see my 11/9/10 and 11/28/10 posts for that story), I decided that I wanted to try a 10K (6.2 miles). I looked around, and found two options happening on the same day in December: a 10K in DC that started at 8am and cost $35, and the Striders' 15K that started 5 minutes from my house at 10am and cost $5. Despite the extra distance, the answer seemed obvious. I told myself that I would just walk when I got too tired to run.

It seemed like a decent plan, but I turned out to be unprepared in many ways. I woke up on the morning of the race to freezing rain. Owning no technical clothing at that time, I put on capri pants, a cotton hoodie, and a fleece jacket. No hat, no gloves, nothing covering my ankles. Within 10 minutes, I was soaked and freezing, and there was water inside my shoes. Within 20 minutes, all of my cotton clothing had doubled in weight and I had to take my glasses off because they were fogging so badly. I was totally unprepared for the conditions, and I also had no idea how to pace myself. Instead of mixing walking and running from the beginning, I just ran until I could not possibly run anymore (a little over 6 miles) and then I started walking. By that point, I was so tired that even walking was a challenge. Somewhere around mile 7, I seriously considered just sitting by the side of the road and waiting to be rescued. Had it not been raining, I probably would have done just that.

By the time I reached mile 8 of the '09 race, I hadn't seen anyone else in awhile and thought I might actually be in last place. Then, I passed a volunteer at the bottom of a hill (I strongly suspect it was my future coach Susan) who said "This is your last time up this hill and there are people behind you!" I kept going. When I hit mile 9, I remember spending the last .3 miles thinking about everything I had been through in the previous year and a half: a soul-crushing breakup, being laid off, intense clinical intern work, and then another breakup. It was definitely one of those moments where the race became about way more than running. I knew that, through running, I was finally digging myself out of my hole.

I finished that race in 1 hour, 53 minutes and came in 240 out of 246 runners. I went home, took a bath, and slept all afternoon. When I woke up, I cooked a big meal and thought about the fact that I needed help if I was going to learn how to run longer distances without killing myself. That's when I went on the Striders' website and learned about the half-marathon training, which would ultimately make me a better runner and also introduce me to Susan, Val, and a ton of other great people. So, as miserable as that 15K was, it was worth it for where it got me.

Today, I did the Anniversary 15K under much different circumstances. One year later, I came back having done four half-marathons, a full marathon, and all of the other races in this year's Annapolis Striders' Champ Series. There was still an overcast sky and some rain, but it wasn't freezing, so I wasn't complaining! All in all, this year's race was easy and fun. I ran the first 4.5 miles with my friend Casey from the marathon training group, and then pulled away and ran the second half on my own. Somewhere around mile 8, I remembered how all of the tough events of '08 and '09 had flashed before my eyes during last year's race. I'm very grateful for how much I've grown as a runner over the last year, but even more so for how much happier and more at peace I feel. Of course, the two are not unrelated.

I crossed this year's finish line at 1 hour, 44 minutes- 9 minutes faster than last year. When I finished, I also secured my Ironman award for finishing all of this year's Champ Series races. Now, I'm looking forward to 2011!