Woot Woot

I ran the Clairton Chamber of Commerce 5k with my husband on a whim this morning. We got there early enough to register and get packets but they were out of shirts. I was kind of bummed because I plan to make a quilt out of all the cotton race shirts I get from these little races eventually.

I spent some time talking to the runners about reGen and handing out samples. Then I did some strides and stretched out while listening to some pretty awesome classic rock from the DJ. I also ran into a couple people from my local CrossFit box so we chatted some before lining up.

As soon as the announcer shouted, "Go!" I knew things weren't going that well. The sun suddenly broke free of the clouds and the temperature seemed to rise about 5 degrees in a matter of minutes. The humidity was choking and sweat was pouring down my face. Then, before I even reached the turn out of the park, my right shoe came untied. I jumped to the sidewalk, cursing myself, and fixed it before continuing on.

I held on to a small group of people and did my best to stay with them. We were on the first bridge crossing headed to the 1 mile marker when I realized I was holding about a 7 minute mile pace. I'm crazy but not THAT crazy. I backed off and watched my rabbits disappear. After that I was pretty much on my own and just focused on staying sub-9 pace for as long as I could.

Heading uphill to the turn around point I started to really struggle. I saw the leader, a couple women, some more men, and then my husband! He was really close to the front! I yelled to him that there were 6 or 7 people ahead of him and he needed to go for it and we high fived. It was just the pick-me-up I needed. I made it around the turn around and picked the pace back up on the downhill.

As I came past the 2 mile marker my vision started to blur and the sweat started to pour harder. I wanted to take off my shirt but I didn't want to lose the time. I was starting to really worry that I would puke, pass out, or both. I told myself I was too close to the end to give up now so I just kept chugging along.

As I approached the second bridge crossing (same bridge but going uphill this time) I really started to lose motivation. I pushed up the hill but my pace kept slipping. I was at a demoralizing 11-12 minute mile pace but I knew I couldn't walk it any faster so I kept going. About 2/3 of the way up I got that woozy feeling again and decided that I would have to walk. I set my sights on a speed limit sign, walked to it, then picked up the pace again.

Suddenly I was at the top of the hill and it was almost totally downhill to the finish line. I looked at my watch and I was under 26 minutes still! I knew I could PR if I could just dig deep enough. I got the pace to 10 minute miles, then to 9, and on the last downhill I'm pretty sure I was sub-7 again.

I crossed the finish line and glanced at the clock to see 29:16! PR! Woot! The volunteers were trying to take my bib tag and move me out of the lane but I was trying not to throw up on them. It was really hard to shoo them away. I will always be eternally grateful that I didn't lose my breakfast on them!

I found Shane and we caught up with some of his coworkers, some friends, and the other runners from CrossFit. Everyone had done pretty well and seemed generally happy with their performance. The last few runners finished and as we cheered in the walkers the announcer put up the results. I was overjoyed to see that I got third in my age group! My husband ran a PR as well, 23:50, and got second in his age group!

Overall, I'm not thrilled with how everything went but since I can't control circumstances I am overjoyed with how I handled them. If I hadn't tied my shoe, hadn't walked that hill, hadn't almost tossed my cookies at the 2 mile marker, I almost certainly would have seen a 28 in front of my time for the first time ever! I can't wait to sign up for my next (hopefully flat) 5k!

But next up is Warrior Dash in Logan, OH next weekend! Bring on the obstacles!