I had to get up at 4:30 on Thanksgiving morning in order to get down to Horseheads in time to leave for the race with everyone. I stretched and used my Trigger Point rollers the night before to get my muscles ready and was really excited to run. The weather was cold and sunny. We got there with enough time to get a good warm up run in before the race started. When I run I get pretty warm so I typically dont wear gloves and if I have a jacket it ends up around my waist. I didnt want to run with anything extra this time so I opted for a long sleeve running base layer and a tech T over it. I ditched the gloves before the race start as well.
There were over 1400 runners/walkers in the race and I was up near the front of the line when the race started. My goal from Helene was to run the 5K in 35 minutes which was a personal record and just a little faster than what I had been running in my other training runs. I set my watch and HR monitor so I could hit start when I crossed the starting mat and noticed that my foot pod wasnt reading. Grateful that I knew what the distance was and could figure out my speed after the race anyway, I set the watch for HR and time and pretty much ignored it once the gun went off and the race got underway.
What I wore turned out to be perfect and I felt good in the pack where I was. I pushed a little harder than I usually run and passed a few people as we ran up and over an overpass and around the corner down some streets and to a park for the turn around. My Dad had decided to race the race and I saw him shortly before I got to the park on his way back. When I got to the park I looked at my watch and saw that I had only been running 15 minutes... I dismissed it and kept going. The last mile was uphill but I kept going and ran around a few people that slowed to walk. At the top of the overpass you could see the finish and I spotted my Dad cheering. I crossed the finishline and hit my watch to stop the time.
Seriously, I couldnt believe the time I saw. My official race time was 31:14.... that meant my overall mile pace was just over 10 minutes per mile. FAR faster than I have EVER run. Thanks Helene for the spin workouts getting my legs used to turning over faster, also for those run intervals that I love so much (uggg)! Only four weeks of training and I can already see improvement. I know that things will level out, but right now it is so rewarding to see the improvments! I was/am so proud of myself. Several years of running and I finally hit the 10 min mile.
Oh, and my Dad won 2nd in his age-group! He is an amazing runner!
Goggles on my friends!
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