Year End Race Report

All work and no play makes me grumpy. I've been working on some on-line training this week for my job and some other work that also involves sitting. So much sitting that my bum is sore and my legs are stiff. Not cool. I have managed to get in most of my workouts this week which has helped. I do miss all my bloggy friends. I'll try to catch up with everyone next week.

The Nick Caldwell Memorial 5K was last Saturday. I mentioned before that I slacked off on my training plan and went my own way and even no way for a couple weeks since my last race, so I was nervous this time around. My last few runs before the race weren't great, my heart rate was high and I couldn't get my breathing under control.

It was chilly the morning of the race and I don't exactly have my cold weather wardrobe sorted out yet, so I wore a long sleeve top and a pair of teal "running tights" that are actually Victoria's Secret yoga pants. During the race, a couple dudes were poking fun at my choice of apparel, but I didn't mind. Whatever works.

The course was flat except for one hill close to the second mile and one tiny hill at the finish. I made the first mile at right around nine minutes and I felt pretty good except for my breathing. I'm a heavy breather and always feel a little self-conscious about it, but this time there was some guy behind me that was even louder than me, so I tried to stay ahead of him so he'd drown out all my huffing.

There was a water station right past the first mile and I grabbed a cup and gulped it down. Huge mistake. I guess it was Gatorade, but it tasted so sickeningly sweet, like kool aid with too much sugar. I spit, threw my cup then huffed and puffed up my way up the first hill and headed down the street. Right about mile two is when things started to go bad. That foul liquid kept threatening to come back up. I kept telling myself to keep running while simultaneously looking for some bushes for cover. I kept everything down, but the last mile was a combination run/walk. It wasn't JUST the sick feeling either, my heart rate was through the roof.

When I came up the last little hill toward the finish line, I saw Knucklehead waiting for me. This made me so happy and gave me that little extra push that I so needed. The clock read 30:38 when I crossed what I thought was the finish line. I was excited because I thought I had totally blown it, I didn't even see anyone else behind me. Suddenly I found I had shaved over a minute off my last 5K time. Not.

See the white mark in the pic? Apparently, that was NOT the finish because when I received my official time, it was 31:24. I'm okay with that, because that is still a tiny bit faster than my last time.

This is my last race for this year.  I'm going to spend the winter conditioning my body to run better. I'll race again when three miles feels good, not like I'm going to die.