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Comments: With it being St. Patty's Day, there were an abundance of crazily dressed folks so I told myself to ignore them all, even if they were wearing green tutus, and just race my race for me. I had a goal of getting a new 5K PR and couldn't allow myself to get distracted. For the past two races in the series, a lady had a sign 'Worst parade ever' which was funny the first time but predictable the 2nd. Today she had a new sign, 'Worst Harlem Shake Ever'. Now that was funny! I found a decent groove after the usual jostling for position at the start (and I don't mean to be mean but I really wonder why the elderly lady who walks the whole thing doesn't start herself in the back instead of the middle where she gets run over) and tried to find some good pace bunnies. A girl in an orange vest seemed like a good candidate, so I kept her in my sight. Flag Man wasn't terribly far away, either, so I used him as well. To my shock I began very gradually reeling in Flag Man and ended up passing him between miles 2 and 3. I was trying to run mainly by feel but snuck glances at my Garmin to see what pace I was keeping which was good and bad. Good when I noticed I'd drifted a little slower than I wanted, bad when I'd see a fast (for me) time and think, "Oh my gosh, I'm going that fast?! I can't possibly keep that up" and probably subconciously slowed down a touch. Yanti was at the forefront of my mind on the hills: patter up, charge down using gravity as your friend. The other Manatees weren't far from my mind, either, as I tried to channel their speed and grit. Was glad to have my friends yelling and cheering for me especially at the end when I really needed it. I do well with people yelling at me to push it at the end! :) They were screaming at me to push and get past the group in front of me so I kicked it into high gear and did pass a bunch of people. Funny how as I'm doing that I think of all the threads I've ever read about people being jerks by running fast at the end, passing people! Oh well, it is a race, right? And I truly wasn't concerned about beating them but getting my own time faster. Overall happy with my race and my effort. I beat my RRH course record by 1:33 and my RRH 5K PR by 10 seconds, BOOM! What would you do differently?: Push myself a bit harder. I was running with a strong effort most of the race but in hindsight I wonder if I could've gone faster sooner (and longer) and been OK. I would've pushed a little sooner at the end. But overall I'm very happy. Who'da thunk it, running more, mostly slow, sometimes fast actually works?! ;)  Post race
Warm down: Hugged my friends, said hi to a guy from the tri club that was also racing, removed my chip and headed in for soup!! Didn't stick around for raffle because I needed to get home, showered and ready for the Bears game! What limited your ability to perform faster: My own fear of running out of steam too soon and not knowing my limits/red zone. I'll look at my watch, see a fast time, and think, "There's no way I can maintain that" when in reality maybe I can. Event comments: I'm very glad they added the graphic to the back of the shirt mentioning the soup, it is totally why I do the race!! OK, well mostly why I do the race ;) Being local and reasonably priced (if you pay for the whole series and race the whole series) are reasons, too. Profile Album Last updated: 2012-11-09 12:00 AM
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United States
Applied Race Management
42F / 6C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 445/609
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 23/39
Got there plenty early since parking gets a little crazy. Went in to pick up my shirt and bib, walked back to the car to kill some time and get organized for the race.
Did a nice, easy mile on the track for a warm-up. Slowly learning that there is a lot of benefit to a warm-up. Made my way to the starting area to stretch and other warm-up things. Found a light pole with no one around which made it great for doing my legs swings until this little kid (like 4 yrs old?) ran across the driveway, up onto the grass where I was and stood RIGHT in the area where I was swinging my legs. Of course I stopped my leg before it hit him and moved around the pole a bit to get away from him. Doesn't the little bugger move closer to me when I move?! Really, kid, are you trying to die by (accidental) kick to the head? All the open area all around me and you have to pick the spot < 5 feet from me? I know kids are kids and generally lack a sense of the world around them, but I think a large, kicking leg would not look like something to stand near. I move again and he moves again. Frustrated I shorten my swing as I'm running out of room to get away from him when FINALLY his guardian comes and plucks him off the grass, whew!
After finishing my stretching I positioned myself for the start while continuing to do some other stretches, etc to keep my legs warm and ready until the start. Spotted 2 of my pals who came to watch and gave them a big hug and told them my goal of a new RRH (recent running history) PR.