Gusher No. 5

It's taken me a while to get out the post-race blog on this one, particularly because it means so much to me in so many ways. Also, it's not like I cured cancer or anything, so I needed a little space for appropriate perspective.

But here it is...

I ran the very first Gusher Half-Marathon in 2010. I finished in 3:11:40.7. Saturday, I ran my fifth Gusher Half-Marathon, and finished in 1:51:13. That time was good enough to get second in my age group of women 40-44.

(This is me, grinning from ear to ear. And then grinning some more.)

I didn't have a lot of expectations going into this race. Since the first time, I've been fairly inconsistent in my times. I had a year where I finished in just under 2 hours, and then the next year, I finished in a little more than 2 hours.

So who knew what I was going to end up with?

Last year, I started out with high expectations. I went way too fast way too soon, and slowed down pretty fast.

This year, I just ran.

I maintained a fairly consistent 8:15-ish pace through the first 11 miles. Then when I got to mile 11, I realized that even if I slowed down to 10-minute miles, I'd still make my goal of under two hours, so I slowed down a bit.

(The winner of my age group beat me by about 5 minutes; I wish I hadn't slowed down.)

I'm going to be absolutely honest here: I am so damned proud of myself.

So. Damned. Proud.

When I was in junior high, I didn't pass that Presidential Physical Fitness Test because I couldn't run a mile in the time allotted.

When I first started this running thing, at the age 33, I was slow. So very, very slow. And everything jiggled. And I was self-conscious. And nervous.

And now?

Look at me go.

It's not you...it's me...

OK. Maybe it's you, too.

I'm breaking up with my gym.

I went from absolutely LOVING it to dreading it. I almost made the decision last night not to run rather than submit myself to the damn treadmill.

I originally joined the gym because I wanted access to classes and weights. It was close to my daughter's dance school and instead of shopping while she took classes, I theoretically could drive down and get a run or a class in or lift some weights.

I've realized, though, that despite what I should do, I'm a runner. Period. I don't want to lift weights. I don't want to take classes. I just want to run. And I want to run outside..

The gym has its faults, too. They come down to two basic issues:

Parking. Yes, it's a public parking lot; they don't have a lot of control over it. There have been a few times when I have gone to the gym to run while a kid was at an activity and I had to just turn around and go back to wait for the kid. There was no parking. It wasn't that the parking was too far away or whatever -- there was none. Sometimes, it was because there were that many people there, but sometimes, it was because the people who were there were taking up more than one space for zero reason. I don't suffer fools, y'all.

Treadmills. There are about 40 treadmills there, I guess. At any given time, a quarter of them have issues. They're either not working or not working well -- the screen doesn't respond when I'm inputting data unless I practically hit it, or the incline doesn't work, or the TV screen is screwy. One of them won't let you increase your speed after you've started running.

In preparation for this, I did order a very lightweight rain jacket. I also bought an exercise ball, Googled core exercises for runners, and boom. Instant class that I can do anywhere and anytime.

During the Christmas holidays, when I was off from work, I ran outside twice a day every single day. It was cold (not as cold as it has been), but I just layered up and ran. When we have had our super-cold days, I've bundled up and headed out.

So why exactly am I paying for the gym?

During the few too-wonderful-to-believe days we've had over the past few weeks, I've run near where my daughter has dance. I've run outside around campus at work. The weather is just going to get better (in my opinion) in the coming weeks.

So why exactly am I paying for the gym?

Ah, that's right. I'm not anymore.