Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Run for Your Life 5K

I almost missed the start. I didn't really look at the race brochure to well and for some reason I thought it started at 6:30. I warmed up for 1.5 miles and then hit the bathrooms. When I came out of the bathroom I saw that the entire field was lined up and it was 6:00. Oh Shit.

I ran over to the start, got in line, said hi to Goat another Philly Runner that was in the race and the horn sounded. I made it by about 20 secs.

I wasn't feeling to great during my warm up and things continued that way. Almost immediately it felt like I pulled muscle at the top of my butt over my right leg. A little pain but I guess it didn't really slow me down. I quickly got towards the front and I saw that there were about 15 people in front of me after a 1/2 mile.

Fell into a decent pace that didn't feel like I was pushing to hard and went through the first mile in about 5:55. That would be my last split for the race because I had forgotten my watch and there were no more clocks.

Down a big hill, a couple of little out and backs and I had worked my way into 10th by the 2nd mile. I was racing okay but I just didn't feel good. I was forcing the pace and didn't feel smooth. A couple smaller hills and then it was a turn up the massive hill we had come down earlier in the race.

I passed one guy on the hill and came around the final bend to see I was going to miss last years time. Finished in 19:07, to last years 19:00. 9th place, the same as last year, and 2nd in my new age group 30-39. My work team came in third in the team competition, and I can happily say that I was the fastest on the team.

The mile cooldown after the run felt like total crap and I struggled through it a bit. I was tight sore and now I had a nagging muscle pull. Wahhh Wahhh Wahhh. Felt a little sick and somehow the race had really put me in a bad mood.

I woke up this morning with a better outlook. My legs feel better and overall I feel better. I raced a 19:07 on a bad day this year and last year I ran a 19:00 on one of my best days. I'd say that is an improvement.

1 comment:

Christine said...

Some of my better races have started with a mad dash from the porta potty to the start..