Breast Cancer 5k (...Insanity Still Going Strong!)

Hi all,


I am painfully aware that I'm overdue for blog postings on the 2nd month Insanity workouts!  I promise they're coming...and I promise they'll mostly harp on about how much harder they are than month 1, which as you recall was killer in itself!  That said, today I thought I would give a little recap of the AWIB's Breast Cancer 5k this past Friday.

I hate running.  Pretty much always have, and likely always will.  Either I find running extremely difficult, or at best (assuming I'm in good shape at the time) I find it boring.  And I've never run more than 6 miles at one time in my entire life.  Well, after Friday's 5k I can't say that my opinion on the topic has changed much, but at least it ended up being a good time for a good cause :)


The run was the WaDuke running trail, which, in case you've never been on it before, is pretty imposing in terms of the number and size of the hills on it.  Definitely not a cakewalk. However, I was feeling a bit more confident about running than normal because of all the Insanity workouts I've been doing.  Surely all that training would come in handy out in the real world!  Right?




5k Recap
Well, after the start signal was given, the 30+ or so of us who were there started speeding off down the trail.  Pretty quickly, and unsurprisingly, it was clear that there were two main groups of participants.  The social bunch were "running" to enjoy each others' company (I think they had it right!), and then all the folks struggling to stay at the front (including me).


Despite not having run in about a year, it seems Insanity has provided at least a decent bit of prep for this.  I ran steadily and surely for the first 2/3 of the race, even passing a few people towards the end who perhaps were a bit too eager off the starting block.  However, that's around when the wheels started to fall off the bus.


It wasn't cold outside, and yet I was wearing lined track pants, sweating profusely after about the halfway mark.  With about 1/3 to go I finally stopped, scrambled to take them off quickly so I could jump back in the race, and was able to get a bit more mobility.  However, I don't know if it was because of that single stop or if I was simply doomed from the start, but that last leg of the race was filled with constant pitstops and breathers.  I was toast!  My muscles were starting to ache, my lungs were burning, and I was feeling rather...unmotivated (boredom starts to set in on top of everything else).  And man that last hill to the finish line is a doozy!


In any case, I ended up finishing with ~24 min, 40 secs on the clock, which was fine by me!  Definitely fast enough for me to feel like Insanity has done me some good, but there was still a solid handful of folks who pretty much destroyed me by at least a couple minutes.  However, it turns out most of them were running club people, so I was lucky enough to win a free apple pie for my finishing time as a wannabe runner.  Too bad they're not on the diet!  It smelled so good too, but we were able to find another taker for the dessert so all is still right with the world.


Miscellaneous Update

• Went to the State Fair last night in Raleigh.  What a circus!  People everywhere, but definitely a fun time.  Too bad the culinary staples there are things like oversized turkey legs and deep-fried kool-aid/twinkies/etc.  I made do with a chocolate covered frozen banana though, so I feel like it made it out ok :)
• The diet is still going strong, although I'm starting to doubt how well it's actually working for me.   However, I think I've maybe been eating too many grains lately (even if they've been gluten free)
• Incidentally, although my doing Insanity has never been about losing weight, I have lost about 6-7 lbs since starting. Weighed in at 150lbs even yesterday.  That's about as low as I want to go, but it's still nice to know I've gotten rid of some of the extra baggage.