Runnin' of the Green race recap

Today I ran the Runnin' of the Green in Green Island.

I felt like this would be the true test of how my knee was progressing. My goal was to simply run the entire thing and not walk. Since I have been running/walking for all of my training runs, I was a little bit nervous.

It was a cold morning with temps in the high 20's. I knew this would be a tough run on my breathing since it was so damn cold. My goal was to take it easy and just pretend it was a normal 4 mile run.

We arrived at the starting line and met up with Elisa and a few more of our running friends. At 10 AM, we were off. I tell you that one of the hardest things, is to take it easy when you are part of a race. You just get caught up in the momentum of it all. So, holding back is easier said than done.

Anyway, off we went. I ran the first 2 miles or so with Elisa. But let's remember - I haven't run 2 miles in a VERY long time without stopping to walk. So I finally had to slow it up. She went on ahead and I just kept running along at my own pace.

At mile 3, I had thoughts of stopping to walk. After all, I know well enough by now that I need to stay ahead of my knee pain. Once the pain creeps in, then it's too late. So I wondered if I should take a brief walk break. But, I was feeling good. So I kept on.

The funny thing about a 4 mile race is that it is a total mental thing. I have never run a 4 mile race and it was weird. You want to run hard so you have a good pace. But yet, 4 miles feels a LOT longer than a normal 5K. So I had to contend with those thoughts in my head.

But, I pushed those evil thoughts aside, and I kept on and on until I hit the finish line.

No walking. No knee pain. I was one happy girl.
My overall time was 36:41 at a 9:17 pace. I was # 413 out of 664 total finishers.

Afterwards, Elisa, Felice and I decided to tack on an additional 2 miles. And that's when my knee started to hurt. UGHHHHHH! But I stopped and stretched it out and did some of my hip exercises and managed to finished up the last half mile and finish pain-free! And that makes a good running day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!