CHICKS CHASE NO.1

Chicks Chase No. 1 2016

I went to see my physio and he told me not to run for a few weeks, well he also said knowing me to at least try and run as little as possible on my leg. To avoid running or exercise, if I was going to do it to again try and keep it to as little as possible. I wanted to run the race that week though, which was the Chicks Chase and it was the first of the season, I did it last year and I really enjoyed it so I wanted to do it again.

Yes it was against the physio but I wouldn’t run for the next few weeks after, just that race and then resting. I had the choice between 5k and 10k and still hadn’t decided which one I was going to do, luckily it was a sign up on the day race as well, I didn’t think I should do the 10k because of my leg but I really wanted to do it so when I got to the desk I was like ‘screw it’ and went for the 10km! I was a little nervous because I hadn’t run that distance since October and that was with a dog attached to me, I hadn’t run since February and that was on a treadmill so nothing compares!

We lined up at the start line, it was a beautiful sunny day, I was so glad I had bought my sunglasses because the sun was straight in my eyes before we set off. I was running with my mums friend who I ran my first 10km with, and it was her idea to do it again. They were saying that the faster runners should go at the front, I was not planning on having a fast time or anywhere near my PB. Julie suggested we go to the front anyway to give us a bit of a head start to the rest of the group, I knew very well that they would all overtake me as soon as we started.

The starter signal went and we started running, I went into this aiming for around 1 hour 20 minutes because I didn’t think I was going to get my normal time considering I hadn’t run for a while so I started off at a slow pace. Within the first 5 minutes nearly everyone had over taken me and I was starting to trail off with the smaller groups towards the back. I didn’t want to increase my pace because I didn’t know how I was going to be feeling towards the end of the run. I kept running at my pace for about 6k of it. Around 4km I overheard a lady behind me say that the lady in front of me was aiming for 1 hour 10 minutes which was what I would usually be going for, so I made sure that I stayed with her for most of it. At first she was quite far away from me so I upped my pace a little bit and felt perfectly fine running at that pace, it was good, I was glad to be running again.

We got to the 5km point and I saw how many people were dropping off to finish the 5km race, and I was worried that continuing on with the 10km there weren’t that many people and I didn’t want to be completely at the back in this race. I finished a race last year in last place and it was horrible because everyone had packed up and left and there was only a few people waiting for me to finish which sucked. Luckily there were a few other ladies following behind me so I didn’t feel completely alone – it’s nice to have people with you in the race.

I got to around the 8k mark and realised that I was almost running on the ladies heels, I hate it when people do that to me and I didn’t want to be that annoying runner. By this stage we also had got into a group of runners, and everyone was having a chat and a laugh, it was quite nice though because we were all cheering each other on and saying that we could do it and get to the finish. At this point as well, I wasn’t feeling any pain in my legs and I didn’t feel out of breath at all, so I felt like I could definitely up the pace again for the last 2km of the race. So I overtook the group and it felt like I was running fast – to others it may not however to me it was definitely faster then what I had ever run before.

I was coming in on the last kilometre when a lady started to overtake me, she ran with me for a bit and she was lovely. We had a really good chat, talking about how we could get to the finish and that there was jelly babies waiting for us at the finish line. She overtook me for the last few hundred metres, I was trying to keep up with her pace but I knew I couldn’t if I wanted to make that last sprint. We got around the corner and I decided to sprint, unfortunately the last 20 metres is also up a hill! But I overtook the lady and carried on sprinting into the finish, I always make sure I have that last bit of energy even if it improves my time by a few seconds!

I went over the finish and was given the medal, people were cheering as well and people were all still there which was really nice. I was greeted by Julie who had finished a lot faster than me, and I went to grab my water and treats. They had isogels, bananas, a big tub of sweets and water bottles, what I like to see after a race.

Once finishing I felt really good, I wasn’t in pain at all with my legs and it turns out I got a PB, I managed to get 4 minutes off of my previous time, and to be honest I did feel like I could have run faster if I had wanted to. The next day I wasn’t hurting either, I did come back and massage/stretch and ice my legs. I enjoyed the run, I would happily do it again perhaps at a faster pace but we will have to see.

Chicks Chase No. 1 complete!