This past week, my leg has been drastically feeling better, so I thought I would give running another shot. On Saturday, I went out for my normal pre-race shakeout which is 20mins slow, followed by 4 strides. Throughout the run, I didn’t have any pain, but my hamstring felt really tight, which made for a slightly uncomfortable run. After the first 10 minutes, I stopped to stretch my hamstring, but it didn’t help any. When the 20 minutes were up, I attempted the strides. It felt like I really picked up the pace, but when I looked at my watch I was only running 8:19/mi, and my leg felt even worse. On Sunday, my job sponsored a corporate team for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Akin to last year, a co-worker of mine couldn’t wait to create a race of employee vs employee. This year he said it was me vs him. For the entire month leading up to the race he kept telling me how he was going to beat me and it would be embarrassing if he couldn’t beat me. Embarrassing for who? I run, he doesn’t. I think it would be more embarrassing for me if I lost because I train. Anyway, after my hamstring pull earlier last month all thoughts of racing were out the window, at least to me. He continued on about how he couldn’t wait to race me now that he had the advantage. Him and I have ran in 2 of the same race previously. Last year we both ran the Race for the Cure (which he didn’t beat me because he didn’t want to leave another coworker to run by herself) and the Reno 10 Miler, which I DNF and he wouldn’t let me live down, because I run and he doesn’t (he completed the race).

I was still planning on showing up for the race for the cure and running it, I just had no plans of racing. When I met up with my coworkers, they were all telling me about how much Logan was bragging about beating me. I have to admit, there was a huge part of me that wanted to shut him up and kick his trash in the race, but I knew it wasn’t going to happen. His plan was to stay with me the entire race, and then blow past me in the final stretch. I left my coworkers at about 10 minutes to the start of the race (everyone else was walking except for Lagan and me) to warm up. Thankfully by the time I got to the starting area, Logan was nowhere in sight. Unfortunately, the start line was really crowded and I was lined up in the back. When the gun went off, it took forever to reach the actual start line. When I finally got there, everyone in front of my was running at a very slow pace and there was no way around. My leg was magically feeling better, so I wanted to go faster. So, I broke the rules and ran on the other side of the cones to pass other runners. I kept telling myself to take it slow, I don’t want to reinjure myself. I felt like I was going slow, until I looked at my watch 7:48/mi. Crap! Way too fast on an injured leg. I slowed my pace, until I realized, I was feeling good, why not run it how my body tells me to. If my leg starts to hurt I slow down or stop. By this point I was about a half mile into the race and all of a sudden Logan, goes running past me. My heart dropped, he was going to beat me. I wanted to try and keep him in my sights, but then I realized I didn’t want to get caught up in his game. I wanted to run my own race not his.

Within a minute of him passing me, his pace started to slow and I caught up to him. He decided now was a good time to stick with me until the end. We started talking and I noticed he was having a hard time getting words out, his breathing was heavy, while mine was still pretty easy. Ok, I know I said I didn’t care about racing him, but secretly, I was happy. I knew he was running too fast for him and he probably wouldn’t be able to hold on for the entire race at this pace. By the time we passed the first mile at 8:22 Logan had fell about one step behind me (yes!). Like a little kid, I turned to Logan and in the smug voice I told him, 1 mile down, only 2 more to go. He let out a huge exaggerated sigh and my grin got bigger. At about the 1.5 mile mark a gradual incline started.  I picked up the pace a little in hopes to but some distance between us. I saw Dale (my old quasi coach) and I spoke with him a little bit about me hamstring and then noticed I couldn’t see Logan in my peripheral vision anymore. I didn’t want to look back, so I picked up the pace slightly more to mile 2, 8:10. A little after mile 2, we turned right to a small out and back portion, I knew this is where I could see how close Logan was to me. He was about 20 seconds behind me, and he looked like he wanted to die. I almost felt bad for him. Almost. My leg started feeling tight during the last mile, and breathing started to go haywire. I was looking at my watch every 10 seconds or so to see how much longer I would have to run for. My only goal at this point was to beat Logan and I kept thinking he was gaining on me and he would run past me at the finish. Finally, I reached mile 3, 8:10. Only .1miles to go, but I couldn’t see the finish line anywhere. I looked down again, at 3.11 miles and still no finish line. Dang it! This was going to be more than a 5k. Luckily, right around the corner I saw the finish. I didn’t sprint towards the end like I normally do (I was way too tired), but I finished. The time on the clock said 26:23. I know I’m coming back from an injury, and I haven’t ran in 3 weeks, but honestly, I was a little disappointed that I was so tired at the finish and my time was 26:23. My Garmin stats said the distance was 3.21mi and total time was 26:05 for an average of 8:12/mi. My Garmin usually always short distance wise when I run with other runners, so I knew the course was in fact long. That lifted my spirits. Had this been a true 5k, my time would have been somewhere around 25:28.

While I was waiting for Logan to cross, I started feeling bad about my immature ways with him during the race and I didn’t care who beat who (honestly, if he had beaten me, I might have cared). So when he came across the finish line, I cheered loud for him. I congratulated him and told him how awesome he was because he ran the whole thing, and most people who never run can’t do that. I was totally being a good sport. But he insisted the only reason I beat him, was because he got a side cramp and then he felt like he couldn’t breathe so he had to slow down (seriously!?! I just told you what a good job you did jerk). I just said, ok Logan, whatever and my smugness returned. I told him because he made such a big deal prior to the race about beating me, and then huffed and puffed at the fact that I beat him after the race, that I would post a large sign at the entrance to work that said “Lynsey beat Logan!” After that, he did congratulate me and told me running was harder than he thought it was. He remained a good sport for the rest of the day.

I was a little worried I ran too hard for my recent injury, but today (1 day later) my injury feels fine. Except for the fact that both legs are super sore like I had never ever ran before and decided on whim to run a race on Sunday. It’s crazy what 3 weeks off will do to the body. I am glad I haven’t lost as much fitness as I thought. And I am ecstatic that I can start running again!!!

On Sunday I ran Kaleo’s 5k in Carmichael, CA. I was really excited for this race because the peak elevation was 50ft. I have been wondering if elevation really does affect performance. Here in Reno, I train and usually race at 5000ft. Max and I made a weekend trip to Sacramento for the race. It was a short, but fun trip. We ate at this awesome restaurant that is unique to the Sacramento area called Brookfield’s. They had the most amazing garlic fries I have ever tasted. I was expecting fries covered in garlic salt, but this were covered with olive oil and actual garlic. Needless to say, I was definitely in need of some Orbit Gum (for that nice clean feeling, no matter what). After dinner we saw Guardians of the Galaxy. AMAZING MOVIE!!! It was funny, action packed, and super cheesy. I loved every second of it.

 

On the day of the race, I woke up and went down to the free breakfast the hotel offered. I was a little bummed because my race morning breakfasts are usually incredibly plain. I opted for a piece of toast and some apple juice. I was bummed because this was one of the awesome hotel free breakfasts with waffles and pancakes, etc. I showed up to the race about 45 mins early in order to get my bib and warm up. I was a good runner and actually warmed up for a full 20mins prior (usually my warm-up consists of about 5 mins of slow running…the end), and I included dynamic stretches and even 4 100m strides. I have a bad habit of judging my competition and while warming up I saw 2 other runners stretching dynamically and running pickups as well. One was a man and the other a woman and they were both super fit looking.

 

At the start line, those 2 runners were lined up right at the front. When the gun went off, I kept repeating to myself, don’t go out too fast. I settled into a comfortable pace for the first maybe .25mi until I glanced at my watch and saw that comfortable pace was 8:47 min/mi. Since I was hoping to PR in the low elevation, I knew that pace wouldn’t cut it. I picked up the pace a little and fell in perfect stride with a man right in front of me. I looked down at my watch again and saw 7:38 min/mi and I thought, what the heck, let’s see how long I could stay with him. I ran the first to miles directly behind him. Right after mile 3 started I noticed he was starting to slow, I was still feeling pretty good, so I passed him and tried to work on catching a man in a bright yellow shirt who was a ways ahead of me. This last mile was tough. I had to do a lot of self-talk to keep myself going at the same pace. With about a quarter mile left, I started closing in on the guy in the yellow shirt, I knew I had less than 2 minutes left of running and thought, I can do anything for 2 minutes. I stepped on the gas and passed him. I kept that final pace all the way to the finish line.

 

I have to say, I was very proud of myself for this race. I really wanted to slow down for most of the race, but I was able to keep going. I do believe if that man that I paced for most of the race wasn’t there, I would have slowed, but I was determined to keep with him. The result? A brand new shiny PR! I dropped exactly one minute off of my last PR. I came in at 23:46 which is 7:39min/mi. I was hoping to come up with an age group award with that time, but there were some pretty fast people in this race. Including the 2 runners I saw warming up earlier. I think they got 1^st and 2^nd overall. The women placed 2^nd overall with a time of 17:XX. Crazy!

 

Official Stats:

Time: 23:46

26/171 overall

10/114 female

7/23 in AG

 

 

As far as my training went for the month of July, not so good, I fell short of my weekly mileage goals every week. It has been very rainy here this month so I had to do a lot of treadmill running, and unfortunately, I can only run on a treadmill for so long before I want to shoot myself. Also, with having class on Saturdays, I am unable to go as far for my long runs as I planned on. Also the class interferes with my Tuesday and Thursday runs. I just haven’t worked out a plan to get all my runs in. I am a little worried about the upcoming 10miler in 2 weeks. I am definitely not as prepared as I should be. I did get a new PR for the mile, 6:37! I never thought I’d see a 6min pace for me in anything. So that’s pretty awesome.

 

Total Miles: 90.8mi

Peak weekly mileage: 7/14/2014-7/20/2014 (28.8mi)

Longest Run: 11.3mi

Average Pace: 10:11 min/mi

Races: 1

Truckee Firecracker Mile – 6:37 - PR

 

Lesson(s) learned

• Sometimes you have to sacrifice in order to stay on schedule
• Juggling work, school, personal life, and running is a lot harder than I thought it’d be

 

Plans for August:

Arrive at the 10 miler injury free and enjoy the race. Don’t stress too much about time. I have no other races I am signed up for, so I would like to return to building a stronger aerobic base for running.

 

Upcoming August Races: 1

Reno 10 Miler – 8/17/2014

On June 14^th, I ran the 4^th Annual Walk, Jog, Run for prevention in Minden. The race theme was superheroes. This was the first themed race I have ever run so I was a little excited. The first thing I did was Google female superheroes. I wanted someone that I could duplicate easily, and whose costume would be practical to run in (to me that means no capes, long sleeve shirts, or any accessory I would have to carry with me). I decided on Ms. Marvel! 

Never heard of her huh? Well neither had I. I think she is about to make it big though as there is rumors about her being in the next Avengers movie. Her costume was simple, plus her superpowers are super human: strength, speed, stamina, and durability. Those are all great powers to run a great race!

I signed up for this race because one of my friends who moved to Vegas and recently started running was going to be in Reno and wanted to run a race. He is a Spiderman/Marvel maniac.

I look just like her huh?
OK,  maybe not. 

On race morning, I could tell it was going to be a tough race for me regardless of the course or weather. My legs felt sluggish and like lead. I had signed up for the 10k because that’s what my friend was running and I wanted to see if EFAST had helped me improve my 10k time, but I knew a PR would not be in the cards for me today. The first thing I did when I arrived at the race was transfer to the 5k race. At least I would only have to muddle through 3.1 miles rather than the 6. I am so glad I chose to do that, because not only was the course downhill on the way out, and then uphill on the way back, but it was hot, and my legs and lungs decided to throw a fit.

Usually the first mile of the race is the easiest because I’ve got all the adrenaline I am able to plow right through it. Not the case today. From the first step I took until the very last step was pure struggle. My breathing was out of control. It was super quick and shallow. My legs were slapping the pavement so hard I thought I was creating craters with every step. The only amusing part of the race was listening to spectators try to guess which superhero I was trying to imitate.

I finished in 26:43, which wasn’t my worst race but with all the speed training I have been doing I was expecting to blow my old times out the water. Besides the miserableness of running, it still turned out to be somewhat fun. It was awesome cheering on my friend who got a PR. He came in at 51:XX which is my goal time for the 10k. Part of me wishes I would have just sucked it up and tried to run with him to reach my goal. But, perhaps another time.

Last weekend I ran the Biggest Little 5k. I always hate the chance to pass up a cheap 5k on the weekends (this one was only $25). I should have had some sense of how things would go down just by the start time of 10:00am in 80 degree weather.

At packet pickup, they told me the t-shirts have been lost in the mail along with all of the samples. So the only thing I got at the pickup was my bib. Lucky number 666.

The day of the race at the start line, I was greeted by a cloud of smoke from spectators. The person starting the race was thanking us all for coming and then randomly said "begin". Everyone just kind of stood around looking confused. He said again "start". Again, everyone was standing around. Finally, he said, "start means go". A few people started walking past the start line a little confused, and then finally everyone took off running. I was confused myself. Usually we sing the national anthem, or at least have a countdown to the start. Because of this delay, everyone had 10sec added to their overall time (it was not a chip start). The run itself was hot and kind of dreadful. The course was poorly marked, and there were not any volunteers along the course except at the aide station. Luckily, a lot of 5ks around Reno are held on this exact course, so I knew where to go. I don't really have much more to say about the course. I did ok and came in at 25:48 (25:36 according to my watch). They gave out prizes for the top 3 overall, which kind of sucks because the top 3 were all men. I don't think I would do this race again, but since it is the inaugural year, it might be better next year after they get feedback.

In other news. I got a running coach! I joined a program called Endurance Fitness and Scientific Testing (EFAST). It includes a personalized training plan and a 1 or 2 days a week run team. The run team is awesome, because it is highly coached and I receive a lot of feedback on my form and speed. At the beginning of each run we perform running drills and at the end we have a team stretch and core workout. I have heard a lot of positive things about EFAST and how much people I know have improved upon joining. I am excited to be part of this and see is I improve any. I just finished my first week in the program. It was a tough first week. The week included track intervals, a hill run, a progressive run, and then a long run. I have to admit, my legs were like lead all week. I am used to running easy almost every day.

Have you ever joined a coaching program?

Today was the Leprechaun Race. It Marks the first solo race I have repeated since I have started running last February. I was really excited about this race, because I thought it would be a true test to see my progression. Last year I ran the race in 30:33. My goal last year was to come in under 30mins. I was close, but no cigar. This year, my goal was to come in under 25mins. My current PR was 25:43. During this race, there is a leprechaun you are trying to beat. He starts after every runner has passed the start line. If you beat him, you get a special prize. Last year, he passed me in the fist 1/4mi. I learned a lot of valuable lessons last year and used them to make a better race this year.

I had a plan to arrive at least 20mins early so I good could a good warm up in. Unfortunately for me, everyone seemed to have this idea and there was absolutely no parking, and since this event was taking place downtown, everything was metered. So I had to circle all of the side streets and then park a good distance away from the race. I technically got my warm up in, as by the time I found a spot to park, I had to haul booty to the starting line. Last year, I lined up in the back in front of those with the strollers and spent the first mile or so weaving in and out of runners and walkers. This year, I chose a spot up near the front but not quite with the crazy fast runners. I made it to the start line with about 2 minutes to spare. As as the gun went off, I took off. I was channeling good thoughts and sub 8:00min miles the entire route. I kept picking other runners near me to try and stick with, but it wasn't working out so well. There was one girl in some awesome shamrock socks that was perfectly in front of me for the first mile, but she was able to hold the pace and I wasn't. Then there was a guy with a gigantic clover on the back of his shirt, lost him. Next, there was a woman with a green tutu, same situation. Finally, around mile 2.5 I realized, I should just try to run to the best of my ability instead of trying to cling to someone else.

The course was generally flat except for the last half mile which has a slow ascend. However, since I started out too fast, I didn't have much gusto for the final climb. I gave it my best and huffed up the incline. Right when you get to the top, you can see the finish line and big clock. When I looked at the clock it said 25:XX. As said as it was to see those numbers,I was slightly heartbroken, but just glad that I beat my time from last year. As I got to the finish line, I realized I was not wearing my contacts and have sucky vision, and the clock was actually reading 24:XX. I have to admit, when I thought I saw the 25:XX I slowed down a little because for a second I thought "why bother". Here my goal this year is to think positive, and I crack at the first sign of defeat.

Believe it or not, I am actually very happy in this picture, I just don't know how to pose for photos.

So if you haven't figured it out yet. I PR'd! My official time 24:46. Almost 1 minute off my previous PR and 6 minutes faster than last year! I am super excited. I finally was able to see a 7:XX pace next to my name! Now, I can set a new goal to strive for in the 5k distance. Also, though I did not beat the leprechaun this year, he didn't pass me until 2.5 miles in.

Today was one of those days. One of those days where my legs just don't want to work. I was supposed to run an easy 3mi, but for whatever reason, it felt like those were the first miles I have ever ran. I felt incredibly sluggish, though, oddly, not the whole time. It came in waves. I started off feeling stiff, and although I was breathing fine, my lungs felt tight. Then all of the sudden the feeling would go away and I was feeling perfect, light as air. Then, as before, that feeling would pass and the stiffness would return. Are you starting to see the pattern here? I actually didn't even finish the 3 miles. I only went 2, because of the wonkiness (don't mind me, just making up my own words) of the situation. I'm not really sure what's going on, but I'm sure glad today was not race day. Which brings me to the 5k I'm running on Sunday. I feel kind of silly for saying this, but I am actually tapering for the race.

 I haven't reduced my mileage at all so far this week, but I have been doing only easy runs since Tuesday and I will not be running at all tomorrow (which is normally my long run day). I was telling a friend this on Tuesday (she is in taper phase for her half on Sunday), and she kind of laughed at me. I didn't think it was that dumb. I think it's good to have fresh legs, no matter how far your race is. Well, because I am a Googleholic (still making words up), I decided to search for an answer. What I found was good enough to make me feel a little better. An article on active.com states that (clears throat), "Tapering isn't just for marathoners. In fact, one recent study showed a huge performance benefit when subjects tapered for a 5K." Well, there you have it. Tapering for a 5k is officially ok. So, I will just get back to my tapering duties (is it just me or are there a lot of parenthesis in this post?). 

What do you think? Is it weird to taper for a 5k?
Anyone else running a race this weekend?

Seeing as how I am transitioning from a sprinter running no more than 400m to a longer distance runner. I always thought the 5k race, would be my race. It's short enough for me to keep some speed. I haven't really sprinted since high schoold and my fastest 400m as of late was 1:10, which according to McMillan Running Calculator hsould put me at a 19:48 5k (yeah right, in my dreams). My fastest 5k to date was 26:27 which I ran 4 months ago. I suck at running distance, and I would love to one day achieve a 19:48. I have done numerous 5ks since June and have not PR'd. But finally today I ran a little faster.

My company sponsored a team for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. For some reason everyone at work thinks I'm this great super fast runner. I told one person, I run about 4x per week, and he thought that meant I was really fast. I have tried to explain to him many times that I run slow during those 4x per week. Somehow word got out and one of my co-workers (he is an MMA fighter) decided to make a competition out the Race for the Cure. As an MMA fighter, I knew he was way more in shape than I was. I kept trying to talk myself down to anyone who would listen, but for some reason no one would listen and thought it would be some great race between him and I. Yeah...not even close. He finished in 18:52. However, boosted by the little competition I was able to PR! It did have a few more switchbacks than I would have liked because it was all in the parking lot of a hotel, but it was flat! Gotta love flat! I finished in 25:41! Not super fast by any means, but super fast for me. I averaged 8:17/mi! My splits were 8:03 (starting too fast like always) / 8:28 / 8:28 / 6:59 (final .11mi).

I am going to be very sad once this racing season is over because I have really taking this racing thing head on, some might even say obsessed. I have only been consistently running since February and my first race was March 17th. Since then I have ran 10 races and I still have at least 3 more planned for the rest of the year. A lot of people say they run for sanity, health, etc. Is it bad to say that I run to race? Racing is so exciting to me. The competition, the atmosphere, the goal of trying to better myself. I think Oprah Winfrey said it best when she said:

“Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it”

This quote is so true. This is why I love running/racing. How I compete at a race is a direct correlation to how I’ve trained. Unlike in other team sports where you are depending on others, it’s only you. I’m not saying I don’t love team sports (because I do), but there is no one else to blame. If I don’t do well, it’s all on me. I consider myself to be a very independent person, and running is a great independent sport.

Last week was a very interesting week! I think I have been signing up for too many races lately and they are cutting into my training time as most races are on Sundays, and that is my current long run day. My schedule for this week was supposed to be

Day of Week	Scheduled	Actual
Sunday	9mi LR	7.79mi
Monday	Rest	Rest
Tuesday	5mi EZ	Absolutely nothing
Wednesday	Yoga	Nothing again!
Thursday	3x1mi repeats	5k race
Friday	Rest	Rest
Saturday	5mi EZ	3x1mi repeat
Mileage total	24	16.89

So, not very good at keeping with the schedule. Last training schedule I was so good at sticking to. I followed that plan to the tee. This week is already a little bit off. I am on, mileage wise, but pace wise is all over the place. I think I mentioned I found a running group to join, well on last Saturday I met up with them for 1 mile repeats at Virginia Lake.  Those people are crazy! They are all sub 3 hour marathoners! One of them was attempting to set the CR for Virginia Lake on Strava, which he killed by over 30 sec. The “coach” of the group was super nice and is letting me take his Garmin for a 2 week test drive. I wore it on Sunday for my ling run, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. It’s a lot easier than carrying my phone around, but it is really big and bulky. It does make me feel like more of a runner though.  For my long run on Sunday, I met up with Reno Running Co for their weekly Sunday Store Runs. I ran with them last week as well, but that was a disaster. As you can see from the above table I was supposed to run 9 miles, but I quit right before 8 miles. I didn’t have the energy, I got lost twice, I ran out of water, and I was just hot. I called my husband to come pick me up. This week, however, was better. I ran the first 7 miles solo, and then met up with the group to run the final 3. I finished with an average pace of 10:37/mi (thanks to the final 3 I did with the group. I can’t help it, when everyone else is running fast, I don’t want to get left behind) which is crazy because before I started with the group, my 7 mile average pace was 11:20/mi.

I am meeting up with another group, NSET, today for a 5 mile run. I met 2 of the NSET runners on Sunday and they convinced me to stop by and run with them. If I keep up with all of these group runs, I will only have to run one day solo, which would be incredible. I would much rather run with others.

In other news, I ran the Tahoe Firecrakcer Trail Trek on the 4^th. I was really excited about this race for some reason. I had this great idea in my mind that I was going to kill it. I would finally get one of those age group medals (judging by previous year’s results). Not so. This was the absolute toughest race I have ever done (even though I haven’t done that many). I know the title of the race includes the word “trail” but don’t ask me why, I had convinced myself, that it was mostly a road race. Wrong again! ¾ of the run was on trails…the soft (like running on sand), extremely narrow (two people aren’t gonna fit on here at the same time), and hilly. It was also the longest 5k of my life. I felt like I was running for hours. I looked down at my phone at one point and I was already at 26 mins (so much for a PR or an age group placement) and I still had half a mile to go! I really wanted to just give up! I had already stopped and walked during parts of the race (with my head hanging low), but instead I thought I would just enjoy the scenery and not try and push my already slow steady pace. I finished in 30:11. This was a short course according to my GPS of 3.02mi, so that puts me at exactly a 10:00/mi pace. I have to say I was a little surprised, seeing as I had walked at three different times, that this wasn’t my worst 5k…just my second worst. All in all, though, I had a good time. I loved the foresty trail we got to run on and just like the last race, I learn a lot from (what I consider at least) my failures. It’s only going to make me a better, stronger runner!

I was really looking forward to this run. I signed up a while back, and for some reason, I though this was going to be my race. I had this great picture in my mind of 1st in my AG. I checked all of the races from the Reno 5000 (they hold 3 races a year) for the past 4 years. Even if I didn't PR in this race and just got close, i would place. They even have a podium and the Reno Gazette Journal took pictures of overall and AG winners 3 deep. Here is how the race went:

I woke up at about 5AM and did a shakeout run. I always hate shakeout runs, I have to constantly remind myself to slow down. I'm not even sure if it helps, but I still do it anyway. After my shakeout, I normal pre-race breakfast is bagel with peanut butter. Unfortunately, I forgot to buy some last night and they don't make them that early, so I had to go with a piece of bread with peanut butter. I arrived at the race at about 7:15 (the race started at 7:40). I did a warm up of about .5 miles and 4 strides. This was a race of about 1000 people, and the last bigger race I ran I started out in the back and spent the next mile dodging walkers. This time I lined up near the middle frontish. When the race started, I tried starting my GPS, but it went to some weird screen. I tried backing out and restarting the app, but it went back to this weird screen. After some time, I was finally able to get it going. This particular race started and ended with one lap around a high school track. It took me the entire first lap to get my GPS going. I think this was my first mistake, because I was messing with my GPS, I was running really slow and a lot of people passed me.

Once I got started I was feeling pretty good, I soon got over that feeling. I am not sure why, but this was a rough run for me. My effort was too high, for not getting a PR! In the beginning, I tried staying with a group of runners, but I couldn't keep up. Then, one woman passed me who sounded super winded, I thought I could keep up with her because she was sounding so tired. I never saw her again. This "flat and fast" course, turned out to have more hills than I predicted. I don't do hills. Even the little humps on the sidewalk where a driveway starts, I think are too big of a hill. Needless to say, I struggled some. I usually get really excited and a surge of energy comes to me when I can see the finish. This was not true for today. As I entered the parking lot of the high school, a woman passed me. I tried so hard to keep her with me, with plans to pass her in the end, as we rounded the final lap of the track she took off, and I had absolutely nothing left. I found out later, that final woman to pass me was the 3rd place in my age group winner. I am bummed. I wanted a PR or AG placing so bad. I was so bummed, I didn't even partake in any of the post race goodies. I didn't even bother to have anyone take my picture.

I did however take a picture of my awesome personalized bib!

 I really need to work on my losing skills. My final time was 26:43 58th overall, 4th in age group. Oh well, in order to pick myself up off the floor, I singed up for another 5k on the 4th of July. It's good to have bad races because I learn so much more from a race I perceive as going wrong than I do from races I think I succeed in.