12 mile training run ... and a race.

today was the 1st leg of a series of races here -- today was the 5K, in 2 weeks, its a 10K, then two weeks later, a 10 miler. 3 weeks after the 10 miler is the mini. (a.k.a half marathon) -- around here, its' referred to as the mini. nothing mini about it. still a HALF marathon - but mini makes it sound so much nicer. cute. easy. mini.

anyhow - i've signed up for all three races (this is the 4th go around at all of them) & today was the start.

i'm late for the race - need to leave at about 7:30 so i can run nice & slow; leave room for a loo stop of i need one ... i leave at 7:40, run one block, decide i'm over dressed & turn back home to do a last minute change into knickers - dump the hat, dump the gloves ... my husband yells after me - "why don't you just drive?" -- what? why would i drive?

never in my wildest dreams did i ever think i'd be one of those people who run to a race & then run home.

but now i am that person - and i like her. she's cool.

a few blocks into run - (now its' 7:45 & race starts in 45 minutes - and i've got 4.2 miles to go) -- i realize i've left one of my GU's in tights that are sitting in a heap on basement floor. no biggie - there's one more GU stashed in my sports bra - lord knows there's plenty of room in there for extras.

i run to the race ... too fast (despite listening to my sunday morning chill mix on nano to try & relax pre-race jitters & stay slow) - was convinced i'd be late. but i have 15 minutes to spare ... i do the whole pre-race pee thing, some sprints, and head up to front of pack -- (this is new for me - times are just falling away since i've done this series of races last year & now i can actually line up with the 7 minute milers). and the fact that i actually do some sprints up to "race pace" before lining up cracks me up too. who am i?

i feel way cool. am hanging with the 7 minuters.

then i realize that my "5K" list did not load onto nano for some reason -
the 5K list i specifically picked out & arranged just so for this race -
the perfect - iamrunnerwomanhearmeroariamgoingtokickass list. not loaded.

its ok. its ok. just shift gears & put on "run really fast" list. seriously - that's the name of the list. the songs are a little tired - but am just going to go with the flow.

i go out way too fast - look at my watch at 30 seconds & tell myself i got about 23 more minutes and need to take it way down. i lost a lot of love after mile 2 ... just felt like the juice was gone. i was suddenly STARVING & i needed to pee. i just gave up here & stopped caring about my time, pace, placement, etc ... & tried to tell myself its really just a training run - this is my 10 minutes X 2 steady states in the middle of the whole 12. had to pee so badly that i knew if i tried to haul ass in the last half mile, an unfortunate accident would be highly likely & i just didn't want to go there ...

so, i lost the love, had no juice, had to pee ... passed a woman on the homestretch, felt slightly smug & invigorated - then she passed me (absolutley FLYING, i might add) ... then i looked at my watch & realized i could actually beat my last 5K time & get a new PR!
holy shit. how did that happen? i gave up a half mile ago.

so - there it is ... a PR 5K (by exactly 6 seconds).

23:36
7:35 pace
the 18th woman in my age group.
the 94th woman to finish.
606 overall.

out of a field of about 7000. at least i think that's what the announcer said - jesus jones was blaring in my ears ...

not bad. not bad at all.

then, a little GU, a bagel, my "chill" list & a nice, slow, satisfying 4.5 mile run home.

12 miles. done ... monday begins an easy week.