4th Annual Michelle's "Big Red" 5k - Run5k

My timing was right on with the warm-up and stretching, so not too much of a need to kill time waiting around to start. I started the first mile thinking I was going too fast, but seemed to be dead on during the first mile. I kept checking my pace on my Nike+ iPod, which felt like cheating. Although, I guess a Garmin can give you the same info, but I still felt like I was cheating. Do they allow pros to wear pacing gear?

I finished mile 1 feeling ok, but wanted to cruise in mile 2 to leave some steam to push it in mile 3. I passed a girl who passed me at the start of the race, and good to know, she never passed me again. I was breathing heavy, but felt ok, although I did have a shadow of doubt that I'd be able to maintain the pace.

At the start of mile 3, I passed an 11 year old. Nice. Gratification for getting up early on a Saturday. Truthfully, I give her all the credit in the world for being where she was - good for her! I wish I was as motivated when I was that old. At this point, I felt like I had a lot left to give, so I started to push the pace. The last 800 felt like I was on cruise control, although I think that was also a downhill portion of the race.

Not too much - this was a PR for me, and probably my best time since high school (including one year of NCAA XC - sad!) My initial goal was to do 7:30 miles, and I did slightly better than that. I killed my old PR by more than a minute and a half, so I'm happy. And...I got first in my age group! Wilmington isn't very competitive, so take it with a grain of salt, but still the PR. I'm a happy camper :)

Ran for about half a mile, walked and stretched. Watched them tally the results so I could see how I placed. All in all, I hung out for about twenty minutes before heading to the gym.


My own fitness. I'll keep working on it, but I'm getting better every month.


Tons of volunteers to help direct runners, which was good since the race was through neighborhoods. Fast results, too.