Im slow but im not that slow

Well I did it I ran the 5k last night and im happy I did it. Its funny how competing can help you learn more about yourself and thats probably why I enjoy doing stuff like that. SO on to my post race wrap up!

I got to the site about 6pm feeling pretty good and that I had a lot of time and well I was a little wrong. I really wished I had gotten there maybe 15 min earlier as that would have given me some time to do some real stretching but oh well I know for next time. I got my race packet and my shirt which was really nice and a suprise. You dont expect to get a long sleeve fleece sweatshirt for a 15 dollar registration fee but thats what we got. Plus the logo is cool and I think I will actually wear this as opposed to the mountain of event t-shirts that I have never worn after the event. SO I did a little bit of a warm up and then went to the starting line. Well I guess I should say the starting pack b/c I couldnt even see the line. Im guessing there were somewhere around 500 runners and walkers and I think I was probably in the middle of the pack somewhere. This was totally crazy and probably one of the biggest events I have ever been in so that was kinda neat at first. Well they started at 6:30 on the dot but my start was a little delayed. See if you think of it like a traffic jam just because the cops say you can go doesnt mean everyone moves at the same time. SO I would have to say that it was a good 30-45 seconds before I even started to run. yeah thats right some im not sure what my exact time is yet and they have not posted the results so I will have to wait for that bit of intel. SO I will break this into segments from here on out

Mile 1
Feeling really good a little cold but mostly comfortable. The first mile was really spent dodging people and trying to find ways around other slow people which was quite the challenge.

first mile split 8:30ish

Mile 2
At this point the pack had really thinned out and I was feeling good about my pace I had lots of room to move and didnt feel boxed in anymore. I was still passing more people than were passing me which is a good feeling and helps to keep the spirits up. I felt really happy with my first mile split knowing that I probably went under 8 for my first mile and my goal of sub 25 would be reachable if I kept this pace.

second mile split 17:30ish

Mile 3
At this point I was starting to feel very hot and the clothes that I was wearing to run in are meant to keep the heat in and not really breath all that much. The temps were supposed to be upper 30's low 40's so it seemed like a good call and for the first 2 miles I was happy with that but now that I was in mile 3 I was over heating. The cold air was also having its usual effect on me which means I start having difficulty breathing so things started going down hill for me. I also noticed that I was losing ground to the people I had been keeping pace with as well as more people were starting to pass me and I was not really overtaking anyone anymore. I have to say this mile is where I really gave up on myself and started to have difficulties. SO I tried to give myself my usual pep line which is "what if this was the ironman. would you slow down then? would you want to quit?" I suprised myself by instantly thinking "yeah right like Im ever going to do one" SO I was really feeling beaten mentally and then HA HA it started to rain. I told lisa earlier in the day I might not do the run at all as I do not like running in the dark the rain or the cold which is looked like I might get all of these in one run so all that together really started to put me in a downer if ya know what I mean. Also I thought the course was going to go one way and it didnt it made another small loop which added more distance and that hit me hard mentally thinking that I would be done very soon and realizing I still had quite a bit more to do.

3 mile split - unknown no clock at 3 mile mark

race finish

Ok this was the point where everything gets better I mean c'mon who cant run 1 tenth of a mile. SO I had been keeping pace with this one girl and she was in a racoon costume (people were encouraged to dress up) and halfway through mile 3 I decided I was not going to get beat by a girl in a racoon costume so I stayed with her all the way till the end and I had more of a kick then she did so I did manage to beat her. WOOO HOO I beat a girl in a racoon costume! The end of the race was really bad in the the chute was very small and you went from a full on sprint to a dead stop which my body told me it did not like. I did manage to keep it all together but at that moment I realized I probably pushed my body as hard as it was going to go that night. SO I guess that was good. and what you have all been waiting for!!!!

Final time 26:30ish

I was not happy at the time but now the more I think of it im pretty happy. If I adjust that for the start that puts me in the 25 min range which is very close to where I wanted to be. Also this is the first time I have run for a time since my last operation on my leg and my time was better than before I had my operation so thats cool. all in all it figures out to be an avg mile time of somewhere between 8:20-30 which I can live with. Im most dissapointed however in how I gave up mentally with only a mile to go. I think life in general has contributed to my attitude being more negative I just didnt realize how negative it was. SO thats something I need to work on as well.

Well I hope everyone enjoyed getting in my head a little bit with this run. And like I said im really glad I did it and I think im going to start trying to do more of this type of thing again.

well thats all for now
Cheers!

Oh fyi the reason I was bumming about my time is my Personal best for a 5k is 17:41 and my time is light years away from that one. SO it sucks but it takes time to get good again and I just need to be patient.