Run BlackGirl, Run!

Wanted to share some pictures and one bout of silliness from my first ever race—last Saturday's Prague Half Marathon.

My time: 2:01:39. Not bad for a newbie runner. :)

It was a good—maybe even great—first experience. Namesake, Ci and her boyfriend came to see me off. (Thanks guys, you rock!)

My starting pace was pretty conservative, probably slower than it needed to be, but I wanted to prevent early flameout. Once I got comfortable I gained momentum. No cramps or stitches; an even tempo with enough energy left at the last kilometer to make a mad dash for the finish line.

And mad it was. The reason? Pure and simple competition. Not race timing as one might expect. Because of my slow start I had already made peace with the fact that I wasn't going to get to the finish line in under 2:00:00—until one particular runner came along in the last two kilometers, and I figured out that she was using me for “target” pacing. Grrrr.

She passed me. A few minutes later, without much of a change in my pace I passed her. Within seconds (really) she “sped up” and passed me. And then—here's where things clicked for me—her pace slowed down again once she was ahead of me. Hmmmm.

My competitive side, which had curiously stayed dormant for the first 19 kilometers, suddenly kicked in: “Lady, you picked the wrong girl to use as your benchmark. I'm gonna drop your ass, and good luck catching me if you can!” As soon as I saw the 20km mark I took off past her and did not look back.

Run BlackGirl, Run!

The effort nearly killed me. I was so sure that my heart or lungs or a blood vessel—something internal—was going to explode. Either that or I would drop at the finish line in a faint.

Then I saw the clock time.... Afterward I realized that I probably owed the woman a “Thank You” (and a “Well Done”). Without her, I don't think I would have tried harder in that last leg.

Next year, I'm aiming for 1:45:00, and healthy competition. :)

Cauky.





Take a wild guess who the race leaders are?

Sprinting for the finish while I'm still at the 10km mark.
The insanity is almost over.
I poached this picture from "Empty Nester", a reader of this blog and recent American Expat to Prague. She came up to me as I was waiting and asked: "Are you BlackGirlinPrague?" :) Second time in two weeks this has happened to me.