One last race for '10

Jim & I participated in a 5k on New Years Eve. I also did this race last year. The two experiences were quite different. Starting with the obvious of the weather. Last year it was 13 degrees out, it was windy & snow covered the ground. I literally sweated blood during last years race. If you want to full story, ask me some time. It's very funny in a racing/running kind of way.

This year it was a balmy 53 degrees out with very little to no wind and not a flake of snow in sight. I was a little concerned because when we left the house it was POURING down rain. I would have ran in it, but it's not my ideal racing condition. Luckily, before the start of the race all the rain cleared out & it was actually on the sunny side. While the warmer temps were nice it was almost a little too warm for what we were used to. Just a few weeks ago I was running in single digit temps and then a sudden jump to this. I didn't wear any layers just long sleeves & pants and that was a tad too much. Better to be over dressed than under dressed in my opinion.

Going into this race I wasn't sure what to expect. I haven't ran a 5k since August. If you remember that is when I was battling an injury and then had to take a 6 week break from running all together. In the mean time I underwent some physical therapy and found out that my injury was brought on by my bad running form. I know I've lost some speed, I'm ok with that. But I've always had the ability to race much faster than I train.

Anyway I'm ok with a slower pace cause in a nut shell I've completely revamped my form and had to start from scratch in this area. I've also shifted my focus to longer (much longer) distances & that is different than only focusing on 5k pace all the time. I don't really train for 5ks any more, I'm more of the mindset to train for 1/2 & full marathons & ultra races (anything longer than a marathon). I just go out a run 5ks from time to time.

I was hoping to at least run a 8 minute pace. I'm horrible at guessing what pace I'm at & in a race atmosphere I don't want to look at my ipod which tracks that stuff for me. So I just ran, trying to not go out too terribly fast, but wanting to push myself and uh, race : )

They provide mile splits so at least at those points I knew my pace. But between mile to mile am I maintaining that pace? I'm horrible at guessing and I know from my past race results that I'm notorious for slowing down each mile. I was surprised to hear my first mile split was 7:30. Then my second mile was 15 so I kept right on pace (good for me!) I finished at 22:58 You gotta factor in that extra .10 of a mile and that put me at a 7:31 pace.

As far as Jim's racing experience I can't really speak for him. I can tell you that he finished in 25:58. He told me that he was going to try & keep up with my pace. Before the race I said I hoped to at least run an 8 minute pace. Jim has been able to run at the pace in his daily workouts so that sounded attainable to him. Well, I didn't keep to that pace, mine ended up being faster. Jim kept up with me as long as he could (which was longer than I expected) but eventually cut back to what he was comfortable with. His finish time was right around the 8 minute pace so he still met his goals and that is great!

Beyond all that Jim doesn't process & discet his racing/running like I do. We are just wired differently when it comes all of this. We train differently. We are motivated differently. We take different approaches to racing. We are just different. But, it's great that we are out there doing it "together".

Anyway, I got carried away. I try not to carry on with all my running & racing lingo. But, ya know, sometimes I can't help it it just flows out of me. So here are some pictures:

Jim & I before the race:


Me, right after I finished. The kids never seem to get a good finish line picture, but are always right up on me when I am done.


Here I am with my award. Andrew (5) took the picture. I kept sitting there smiling and when I finally said "take the picture" he took the picture. Go figure : )



This girl I'm standing next to is in Mandy's class. So that means that I am easily old enough to be her mother, although her dad was quick to note that she was as tall as me : ). This girl is quite a gifted runner, she is amazing and top notch for the jr. high field. We both finished 1st in our age group and I finished a few seconds behind her. She was actually a good motivational marker for me during the race. I saw her ahead of me & used that visual to push myself to keep on running hard. I didn't quite catch her, but was happy to finish right behind her.