Army Run 2012 Weekend!

 

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had an amazing weekend!! On my weekend, I anticipated my upcoming 5 Km race for the Army Run.

I set a goal for myself in the spring, run a 5 Km race. A great friend of mine, Ryan, agreed to run with me in the Army Race in the fall. I had trained using the couch to 5k app all summer and finally race weekend was here!

On Friday afternoon, Ry and I drove downtown to pick up the race kits! It was neat seeing all the military equipment set up. Our race kits contained a running shirt and race bib with chip.

While downtown we decided to grab some supper at The Heart & Crown.

Saturday morning it was up with the birds because my internal clock won’t let me sleep in. Boo! I puttered around the house and did laundry.

In the early afternoon I hit the road and picked up Jilly for an impromptu dinner and movie! I had remembered I had a two for one pass that was about to expire and Jill agreed to come with me!  

We went to see The Campaign. Although there were some funny parts I wouldn’t give it an A+ rating.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed back across the ferry to home!

That evening I got all of my stuff set out for the next morning, race day! I had to try to calm my nerves. I was so nervous. It’s not that I was worried about running. I had been training for this all summer. What worried me the most? The crowd.

I’m not a very fearful person. One thing that causes me anxiety? Crowds. Specifically, crowds all going in one direction. I learnt of this fear many years ago on a weekend trip to Ikea. While the crowd was all heading in one direction around the store my breaths became short, my eyes blurry and my chest tight. I immediately ran away and bolted out of the store and haven’t been back since. Hockey games and concerts, while leaving, bothers me as well.

When my running buddy and I arrived at the race site early Sunday morning, I knew I was in trouble.

The race began at a pretty slow pace as the crowds tried to spread out. I tried to keep my head down to avoid looking at the crowd in front of me.

Ryan said that 2 minutes in he could see my breaths become very short and shallow which seemed odd being how much I had trained.

I kept running, barely breathing from the anxiety but knowing the only way to get away from the crowd was to keep moving.

Right around the 4 Km mark a lady came out of the blue to try to pass me. I guess she miss stepped and then bumped into me. I completely lost it! Anxiety took over me full force and caused me to slow down. I was no longer breathing and shaking like a leaf. Trying my hardest not to make a scene. I kept moving but it was hard as I couldn’t calm my breathing. We kept moving and finally made it to the finish line where I just moved out of the crowds way to regain my composure.

I was very pleased to get my metal at last. I wasn’t too happy with my chip time of 34.32 minutes but I was happy that I didn’t stop and I did run the whole race.

Also, a BIG thank you to my running buddy, Ryan for joining me. The poor guy didn’t know ahead of time about my anxiety and I might have scared him a little!

Thanks Schreiber for not leaving my side during the panic attack!

How was your weekend?

xo