PR!

Final turn, I know I have about 1/4 mile left... I can see the finish line but it was further away than i thought. Longest "sprint" I've done in a long time. Trying to catch an old man in bright red shorts, but just couldn't. Then I got close enough to see the Elvis'... "thank you...thank you very much" I huffed at them and it gave me a surge of happiness and energy to finish under 26 minutes! "Break 26. Break 26" I thought to myself and I did. What a race. 22 second PR from two weeks ago and boy to my legs feel it. Sore and sore on top of the first sore. Taking this week to lift and cross train and just recover. Had a little bit of a hill about 1.5 miles in, some broke down after it, but I train on this hill and knew I was stronger than my counterparts around me. At the crest took a tight turn and opened up my stride and relaxed into the downhill. This hill reminds me of the twin-sisters park him. Maybe not that steep, but definitely close. Fighting off a kid near my age with his silly headphones, two older men chatting it up behind me. When you run CC in HS and know what a race is, you can't stand these people. Even the ones that walk and still beat you. I wasn't letting these people get me. Last mile I just turned it on. 8:00 flat for mile 1. Wow that was to fast. It showed on my 8:56 second mile. But the last 1.1 was a blistering 8:43 which calculates to roughly a 8:10 last mile. Turning it on the last mile, mostly flat/downhill which helped. Shortened the stride and quicker turnover I just left the competition in my dust. I looked ahead about 50m and saw the red shorts and said, "get the red shorts" and boy did I try. That's what we scream at the girls. Focus on a runner in front, lasso them and wheel 'em in. Sometimes we're successful, sometimes we're not, but as long as you can say you gave it an honest strong effort, nothing to be disappointed about.

Crowd was definitely a bunch of first time 5k'rs. Me included. I only had 1 under my belt. It was deifnitely a race to go out and just run a 5K, not one for awards. You could tell by the top time which was almost a minute slower than the 5K two weeks ago. More "competition" 2 weeks ago. Which is fine though. It's good to just relax and have some fine, but still give a strong effort.

Funny thought of the race. The two older guys talking during the race, after going up the hill at 1.5 miles, were asking, "have we gone a mile yet? we have to have gone a mile..." it was funny. I wanted to turn around and say yeah, we've almost done 2, but I needed to keep focused or I'd lose my stride and zone.

Pissed off moment of the race- right leg hurts a lot, need to taker easy which is what I'm doing. But this idiot walking with 200m left. Then taking off when a small group of 4, including me, gets to him and he beats us. That ticks me off. Even more so that my legs we tight and I could beat his sorry butt. It's OK. Those that know, know I really did beat him since I didn't walk. Anyone can go out in 7 min and walk. Run a pace man. Gosh.

I amaze myself sometimes. All the training Sego put us through I thought was punishment. Now I know more about the human body and physiology and after being an asst. coach for one CC season and reading the literature, it all makes sense. Tempo runs work. Especially 3 mile ones. That last mile doesn't seem so far. It seems almost easy. 2 miles done, you're on the other end buddy, time to turn it on. No time to really think in a 5K. Go out strong but steady, keep it there for mile two and then turn it on for 8 more minutes or less. Nice. I love this sport because you read the literature and you say, that can't be true. Then you try it and put it to the test, and it works! how cool! The human body is the most amazing piece of machinery on the planet and it's too bad some take it for granted.

I love running.

"If you feel like singing a song
And you want other people to sing along
Just sing what you feel
Don’t let anyone say it’s wrong

And if you’re trying to paint a picture
But you’re not sure which colors belong
Just paint what you see
Don’t let anyone say it’s wrong" -Wilco "What Light"

Just do it man. Do what you feel is right. What YOU feel is right.
-Hoffy