Big Dog 5k Race Recap

I was really nervous on Friday night. We had some pasta and I tried to take my mind off the race by working on a few sewing projects. I’ve never been an athlete — I’ve never really felt the thrill of competition in anticipation of the game. But this race, more than my others, I really felt it. I had a goal. I had an achievable, but still would need to push myself goal.

The morning of the race I tried to stay loose and calm. I met up with a few of my friends who were running it as well, did the group warm-up stretch, and walked to the line with my pace pack. The hardest part at first was staying slow. I kept looking down to find myself running under a 9 min/mile pace, which, while great, would ultimately have been unsustainable. I knew I had to stay up at or above 9:30 for the first mile or two to maintain reserves for the end. I tailed my friend Marisa for the first 2 miles, using her pace to push myself when I felt like I was slowing down or losing focus.

After the mile 2 mark at 19:48, I pushed myself to run around 9:15 min/mile for a bit. I kept repeating my running mantra to myself. “Chest up, shoulders down. Long stride, deep breath.” It helps me focus while simultaneously stopping me from fixating on where I am. That last mile I kept pushing mself to go just a little faster, while still maintaining my form and my calm. I ran 8:30 for a bit — which I haven’t done since a high school gym test.

At the mile 3 marker I realized I was at about 28 or 29 minutes. I broke into a full sprint — using my reserves to run as fast as my legs would take me. My arms broke form, crossing my body a bit too much (as you can see in the picture), but I just wanted to get to that line. When I hit the clock it said, “29:42.” And then I came to a dead stop in the chute. I immediately wanted to puke and it took everything I had (which was very little by then) to not vomit on fans or fellow runners. After the longest 2 minutes of my life, they took my number and I could walk around. A pee, a bottle of water, some granola bar, and a banana later and I was able to bask in the glory of acheiving the goal I set out to complete.

My Nike+ says my time was 28’52” (a personal record!) — which based on my pacing, level of exertion, and the fact that it was almost a minute before we hit the start clock from our place in the pack feels more realistic. Either way, I won!! (Against who? My old self.)

Also - this was the exact same course as my first 5k in June. My time then was 32:34. So that’s almost 3 full minutes I knocked off my previous course time!

Oh, and I updated my Races page.