Well, ladies and gentlemen…

My big race was yesterday, and I was beyond pumped.

I started my day with some toast with peanut butter, and a LOT of good stretching.

I also wrote my goal time on my arm as motivation:

So, here is what I knew going in… I knew that -based on my garmin- I had pulled paces around 11:00/mile pretty regularly. I had also run that pace, for right around 3 miles before. That is how I determined my goal time. 11:00 x 3 miles = 33:00 minutes + 2:00 for the .10 and some change.

Well, I mentioned on my Wednesday run, that it was windy, and unfortunately, it was very windy on race day as well.

I decided to run with an audio book (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone), in lieu of music, because, I think I’ve decided that running with music might not be the best thing for me.
1) I can’t help but think of songs as units of time. Unless I pack my playlist with 12 minute Meatloaf songs, I know that each song is only around 3-5 minutes of running. I like listening to a whole chapter, looking down, and seeing 20 minutes has elapsed.
2) I CAN’T not run to the beat of the song. It makes me feel all out of sync and frustrated to not have my footfalls land on the steady rhythm of the song. This makes it very difficult for me to listen to myself, and pace myself when hearing music. With a book, I can really listen to my body and find my footing.

Anyway, I was around the middle of the pack, and set off. I felt good, but was instantly aware of how humid it was and how windy it was. Around .7 miles, on the median, I was shocked to see my Aunt Cassandra, and my 3 awesome little cousins there cheering me on!! They made posters, and were telling me to keep running! I couldn’t help but smile, and I almost started crying… I know it sounds silly, but, it means so much to me that they were there. Running, and being fit isn’t something that many people in our family can claim. So, it was awesome for my Aunt (a runner herself) to be there knowing how mental running can be.

At mile 1, my garmin said I’d gone about 1.15 miles, so it wasn’t totally spot on, which I wasn’t surprised about. But we were being literally blown off course by the wind. It was blowing really hard once we were out of the protection of the buildings.

I was going strong until around 2.5 miles. Then, I really started to feel it. Based on my watch, and knowing how far away the finish line was, I could tell that it would be really tough for me to make my goal time. My legs were starting to feel a little tired, but mostly, that darn wind just wouldn’t let up. It was then, that the inner dialogue started.

“Just walk for 1 minute. You’re not going to make your goal time anyway, and you’re aching. Doesn’t your chest hurt, don’t you think 30 seconds would give you a great burst until the finish!?”

I think I might just be proudest that I fought back those thoughts, and kicked my OWN butt, and ran every STEP of that race!! I didn’t walk at all, though I wanted to, and that is a huge victory. My garmin said that I ran 3.1 in approximately 33.35, but I was still about half a mile from the finish line.

Crap.

Around the last bend, a girl tried to pass me, and almost laughing, I said (too quiet for her to hear), “hell no.” I kicked into high gear, passed her, and crossed the finish line strong.

My garmin said the race was 3.58 miles long, and mapmyrun has it at around 3.35 miles long… either way, I think the race wasn’t a true 5k. That, combined with the wind lead to my not meeting my goal time. Which is fine, but I do have a new PR! All in all, I am proud of my work on this race, and look forward to earning that sub 35:00 soon. Thank you all for your support and well wishes, it means a lot to me. I’m trying really hard not to get down on myself about it, but I’m sure I’ll pull one out next time.

Big thanks to Daron (my sweet), Mom, John, Lawson, Grams, Art, Aunt Cassandra, Jacob, James, and Julia!! I couldn’t have done it without knowing you were there and not wanting to be embarassed! you!!

Who’s racing with me in May??

_*_+_*_+_*_+_*_+_*_+_*_+_*_+_*_+_*_+_*_+_*_+_*_+_*_+_*_+_*_+_*_+_*_+_*_+
Results and Pictures

BIB 957
AGE 25
RANK 257/318
TIME 38:32.5
PACE 12:25/M

Garmin splits (which may or may not be accurate, as the race was longer than 3.1!!)

Split	Total Time	Total Distance
1	0:10:47	1
2	0:10:44	1
3	0:10:50	1
4	0:06:09	0.58
Summary	0:38:32	3.58

(google readers, you may need to come to my page to see the pics. )