5K numero dos

today was the YMCA 5k, my second one since i started all this training.  like i said, this week i wasn't feeling great and wasn't expecting a good performance today.  even when i woke up i was feeling tired despite going to bed super early last night.  my friend kara and her fam picked me up (the kids were coming to cheer us on!) and i was just feeling like this wasn't going to go well for me!  did a little warm-up, little stretching and then it was time to line up.  i wished kara good luck and she shot off ahead of me.  i got passed by just about everyone right from the beginning (it was a smaller scale race) and i was struggling.  legs heavy already, low on energy.  i said to myself, nope, you're not going to make it, no friggin way.  the course was a loop you ran 3 times.  i told myself run one loop and then just walk it til the end.  that first mile was tough!  i ran it in a little less than 12 mins, and as i saw the time i said, man, if i just kept up this pace i'll beat my previous time.  so i kept running, but was really feeling crappy.  my legs felt horrible and i was not breathing great.  but i was starting to tell myself to just keep going, that i was tougher than this.  its only 3 miles, if i could do it in march, i can do it today.  2nd mile sucked.  the course was a mix of gravel trail, pavement, grass and sand.  once i got to the grassy part i was really having to push myself because it was slightly uphill, uneven ground, so you have to put in more of an effort.  i make a lot of noise so i'm like grunting and groaning haha, but i made it through that part, back to the pavement,  shortly after that passed the time and saw that i had done that mile in a little over 12 1/2 mins.  so still on pace to beat my other time. at that point, i was like, shit, you thought you'd be walking at this point, you have one mile to go, just keep running.  i was bound and determined to beat the time.  somehow i found a bit of energy and picked up my pace a bit, and when i looped around and saw the time again,(you actually passed the clock twice, once at the mile marker, and then the track looped around the building and back up past the clock again) it said 28, and i was already into the third mile, so i got excited because from that point it would've had to take me about 13 mins to tie my previous time. i was like, you've already got some of the 3rd mile gone and there's no way its going to take you that long from this point to finish.  so again, trying to keep up this faster pace, and then i get to the grassy part again.  i was like, just haul ass through it, get back to the pavement and sprint to the finish.  and thats exactly what i did!  groaning the whole time!  and then as i'm getting closer to the finish, i see kara running back towards me, with a bottle of water, cheering me on to the finish.  so i get closer and see the clock says 36, so i was like, holy shit!!  i'm really going to do it!!  then i really took off and make it just over 37 mins.  not sure of the exact official time, i have to see when its posted, but i think its around 37:15.  i honestly have no idea how i did it.  running is a funny thing.  just when you don't think you could possibly make it any further somehow you just pull it out of your ass and totally surprise yourself.  which is what kara said to me before the race started....that i just might surprise myself!  i'm not even being dramatic, i can not believe i finished with a lower time.  totally proves this shit is mostly mental.  physically i felt like crap, but once i actually started telling myself i could do it, i kicked ass.  well, for me haha.  kara finished 10 mins ahead of me (and she was unhappy!  go figure!)  at one point, i saw her running one way and i yelled out to her she better not lap me :)


so, it ended up being a great day, i was beyond excited, and this is just what i needed to get this resurgence of energy towards my training.  i only have a little over 2 months left to train and can't afford to slack off now.  thanks kara for the end of the run encouragement!!  i need someone to do that for me every race....mike did it the first one, hmmm, who can i pay to run next to me at the tri and yell at me to keep going????