i won!

ok, it was a small local race, but still, i went into this race with no expectations, in fact i almost ran this with my gf, but at the last second she said i should just run it...turns out i ran a pr by over 40 seconds, and i had a blast, well, actually, this one kinda hurt a little, ok a lot!

started off in the front row with some guys who were mentioning breaking 18 minutes, HAHA i thought, ill just keep those guys insight and try to break 19. (my post college pr was 19:06 and my pr ever (hs) was 1840)

the pace was quick right off the bat, and that is what i usually get in trouble with..i start too fast, get anerobic and never recover. but i figured it was a 5k, what the hell, there aren't any easy miles.

so i quickly moved to 2nd place and rode the leader's heels for the first 1/2K. i felt pretty good, and he was slowing down a touch after his initial burst off the line...my mind was racing...do i pass?! shit, i can't pass, then i will be in 1st place, i've never lead a race this early, i wont know how to pace it...all these scenerios were running in my head. oh well, not guts, no glory..and i made the pass

i didn't wear a watch for this race, frankly b/c i didn't think i was gonna run so well, but i also wanted NO pressure, just push as hard as i can and see where the race takes me. so sadly, i have no idea where i was on the first mile, or any of them for that matter, i just know how it felt on a pain-o-meter. mile 1 was ugh, that was fast, event to the turnaround i was still feeling ok, but in pain.

after the turn around i was able to see the other runners, apparently, i wasn't the only one feeling it. as i passed a fellow runner he mentioned that it looked like i was at the turnaround in 9 minutes. that didn't really register for a second, then it hit me, holy shit! i might be able to break 18!

mile 2 hurt badly, and i started to wonder if i was gonna get caught, i really hate being caught in races,and picked it up again...it was really funny running against race traffic (out and back), i heard alot of comments about my tiny strides, but hell, the pitter patter was working!

i was nearing the final turn to home and i did a quick look behind me, NO ONE in sight. phew, dont have to worry about getting passed, but i wonder what my time is going to be, i thought back to my previous races, where i missed my goal by mere seconds, and decided i DIDN"T want that to happen today, so i worked it all the way to the line...NO FINISHING CLOCK! haha, this really is a small local race!

but they had a nice timing system and when the results were printed out, i was able to see what my effort had yielded, a 17:59. hell yeah! i also scored some yummy bread for winning, and the gf won her AG too with a 21:27, awesome day!

more of a 'warm up' with cookies and hot cocoa


1 aid station, at the turn around, didnt' use it. great volunteers, and the race was in the benefit for a charity, can't beat that!