2013 St. Patrick's Day 5k Race Recap

Found on Facebook, posted by diaryofanaspiringloser.blogspot.com - check her out!

Another awesome run in the books for 2013.  You know I've had this great optimistic feeling that this year's racing season is going to be full of great things, right?  Well, so far, so good.  The weather was chilly - about 30 degrees - but not too breezy.  Jason and i drove over together - he was working the finish-line / water stop - and hung out at the VFW for a while, mingling with other racers before the start.  When it was time for him to go help set up the water stop, I took about 10 minutes to jog and warm up.  It was cold enough to wear my windbreaker, but I wasn't sure if I would still want it once I was on my way.  I knew I'd need the gloves for most of the run, but the jacket... I was pretty cold.  I decided to keep it.

Here's a pic from before the race:  It's not an awesome pic of me, and you can't see the green in my tights! 

And off we went!  I remembered how much jostling I had to do at the start of the last race and tried to set up a little closer to the middle of the pack today.  It's crowded up in there!  Still had a lot of trouble in the first few minutes making sure I did trip over anyone's feet in front of me, but eventually I found my spot and settled into my pace.  I was wearing my Garmin (of course) and tried to just push without focusing too much on the watch, just running by feel, trying to ensure I felt like I was running a hard, but at a pace I could maintain for the full 3 miles.  It's tricky, because with all the adrenaline I don't want to go out too fast, but I don't want to cheat myself by pacing too conservatively either.  

At about the 1-mile mark, I couldn't take it anymore and took my windbreaker off, wrapped it clumsily around my waist.  I should have known better!  I was all warmed up and too hot!  Kept the gloves though!  (Actually, I ditched those before I hit the 2-mile marker...)  I glanced at my watch periodically to check my current pace and focused on keeping it below 11:30.  I did catch it occasionally a little below 10:00 (but also a couple times over 12:00, so who knows?)  On the home stretch, once you get to where you have about a half-mile to go, it's a straight, flat shot and you can see the finish line the whole way, so I concentrated, refocused, and kept repeating my new mantra:  my world, my record, my pace.  As soon as the Garmin chimed at the 3-mile mark, I ripped the jacket off my waist, threw it to the side of the road and BOLTED just as fast as my body would go.  

I could see the timer and groaned aloud as I watched it go from 34:59 to 35:00 and on as I approached in the last 10 seconds or so!!  ACK!  I really thought this might be the day I beat that 35-minute goal.  

I stopped my watch right as I crossed the finish line, didn't even look, I was just out of breath and looking for some water (and my husband!).  When I found them, I looked. 

Guess what?  All that jostling at the beginning of the race?  Yup, I crossed the start line about 30-40 seconds after the gun went off, so my time:

WAHOO!! HOLY WOW!!  I DID IT! 

And I'm so happy that Jason was there with me today - he was so supportive and proud of me.  I couldn't speak, I was still so out of breath when I got to him - he asked "How did you do?" and I just showed him my watch - he knew just what it meant and he was SO SUPPORTIVE and PROUD of me!!  "You did it honey!!  You are so awesome!"  Best.  Moment.  Ever.

So here are some stats for you, for comparison:
Last year (the weather was crazy hot at this race last year, and you can see that reflected here):  I came in 56th in my age group, out of 62, # 627 out of a total of 657.  My time was a whopping 41:31, average pace 13:24 per mile.  That was about 30 seconds slower than the Miller Park race two weeks earlier.
Today's results:  for my age group, I came in 58th out of 77, and 567 overall of 692.  Race time 34:31, for an average pace 11:08

Here's my Garmin stats for the run:  Check out how consistent those times are for each mile!!  I didn't get negative splits, but damn, those are some solid times.

Full Garmin stats here if you're interested

In review:  2013 Fitness Goals:  
1.  Hit the gym more often for weight training (in progress)
2.  More sit-ups and push-ups.  (Oops this has gone by the wayside... hmmmm)
3.  Complete a half-marathon (planned for September)

2013 Running Goals:
1.  Run 500 miles (in progress - 134 so far)
2.  5K time under 35:00
3.  10K time under 1:12:00
4.  Run a half-marathon (yes, this made it onto both lists...  I've been known to repeat myself.)
5.  Test mile under 10:00

Two down, which will fall next?

Oh yeah, and it's Sunday so I weighed in this morning... down 1/2 a pound.  Yeah, I'll take that.