Monday, April 15, 2013

38 x 38 - Killed It!

Nearly 1,900 of us stood in the street waiting for the green light to begin the annual Pear Blossom 5k Run/Walk. The skies were a little gray and it felt like it might rain. It was a little chilly - 42 degrees. The crowd seemed to be buzzing with energy and anticipation. 
Do you see me there? In the front looking goofy. Look at all these people!

As I surveyed the crowd, I was surprised to see the mix of people - young, old, seemingly athletic, people like me (ahem, unathletic), big, small, short, tall. The one thing we all had in common though was a smile on our face and goals in our soles (haha, aren't I witty). 
It was early and the crowd hadn't arrived yet. 


Being a newbie to the walk/run thing, I was fascinated by the number of people. My first two (and only) 5ks had maybe 150 participants. This walk was a different animal and I was loving the energy. 

The signal came and this giant mass of people began to move slowly across the start line. I thought it would take forever for our turn to cross the mark as this cumbersome group attempted to make its way. Once our feet crossed the little rubber mat though it was time to work. 

I had three goals in mind:
  1. Beat my time from a month ago (1 hour 2 minutes and some seconds)
  2. Do NOT be last
  3. Make it in under an hour
Crossing the finish line, I thought of pacing myself. I think I tried. My legs were pumping and it really felt like I was flying. But then I'd see someone walking really fast and I'd start to get a bit discouraged. I just tried to focus on me and not worry about comparing myself to others but man, it's hard sometimes. I'd get passed by someone bigger than me and would think WTF! But I carried on. . . 

I quit worrying about everyone else and started to enjoy everyone's accomplishment. I watched old people who were set to complete it at least 15 minutes ahead of me. I watched little kids running with their parents. I watched moms pushing strollers visiting with their friends. I watched people bigger than me out there walking. And it was just inspiring!

As we came to the finish line, I knew I wasn't last but I didn't know my time. As soon as I stopped, my legs quickly let me know that I had pushed them a little harder than normal. They felt like jello! Stacy, Erin, and I posed for a couple of pictures:

So, now the important stuff....how'd I do?

  • I definitely wasn't last. I came in number 1805 out of 1870. I'll ignore the fact that there were 1804 people faster than me and focus on the fact I was faster than 65 people. 
  • In my age group, I was number 144 out of 150. I'll pretend it's because I'm at the "upper end" of our age range...when the heck did that happen??? 
  • I came in under an hour! 
  • I KILLED my last time. Or at least that's how it feels to me. I was a full 5 minutes faster! I came in at 57.41 minutes. 
  • I averaged 18.34 minutes per mile. 
Cross that baby off my list....I killed it! :) 

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