Race Report - Komen Race for the Cure

A year and half ago, I "ran" a 5k I wasn't ready for. I came in last for the run, and even got beat by a walker. Not the best for the self-confidence. Granted, I had only been into running for a couple of weeks, and wasn't really ready for the race. But still, coming in last was quite a blow to the ego. So, I thought I didn't like 5k's and I told myself I wasn't going to run another one.

Well, in the year and a half between then and now, my running has improved tremendously. I'm actually running now (most of the time - hills still get me) instead of doing a run/walk/run type of thing. Because I've gotten better, I got it in my head that I had to redeem myself on the 5k. And the Komen race was the perfect one for it. It was big enough that even if I was super slow, I was pretty sure I wouldn't come in last again. It was early enough in the year that it wouldn't be too hot. It's flat. And it raises money for a great cause.

I spent the last few weeks training and preparing by running laps around my neighborhood. I got my pace down to under 10:30/mile, and thought "If I can do that on the hill in the neighborhood, I should be able to do about a 10:00/mile on the course". I even set up a "Racin' music" playlist on my iPod with all fast, fun songs so I could run to the beat. This past week, I managed a sub-10:20/mile twice in the neighborhood (one of which was in the pouring rain) and a 10:11/mile on the boulevard during a lunchtime run. I knew I had the race down. I could do it and I was so ready.

So I hopped out of bed way earlier this morning than I have on any Saturday in I don't know how long. It was cold outside, so I thought I needed a long sleeve shirt. I dug around and searched and searched for one particular shirt, but couldn't find it. So I gave up and went ahead and wore the tank top and running skirt that I had laid out the night before. I figured if I were cold, I'd just go faster. :o)

I left the house, swung by and picked up my mom and headed down to the Capitol. There were people everywhere! So awesome! We found Mom a perfect place to camp out close to the finish line so she could see me finish. This is me, hanging around waiting for the start:

I hung around with her for while to pass the time since we got there a bit early. We were right across the street from the Capitol building, which in my opinion is one of the prettiest buidlings there is.And then it was time to move into the crowd to get ready for the start. The crowd was huge and there were people everywhere. Stood around for quite a while and was starting to wish I had that long sleeve shirt, when a yell went up and we were off. The back of the crowd started a little faster than the front, so there was almost a moment of all of us falling like dominoes as we had to stop as soon as we got started. But the front moved on and the middle & back of the packers could take off.

I wormed my way in and out of the crowd and finally found a clear spot where I could comfortably get up to pace. And off I went. Didn't push it and felt good the whole way. I kept feeling like I could go faster, but didn't want to end up going too fast and have to stop and walk. So I kept the comfortable pace, picking up the speed just a little as I went. The music on my ipod, fast & peppy, kept me going and motivated. And before I knew it, there was Mom and the finish line. As I crossed, the clock said 32:something, and when I stopped the iPod it said 32:12. Don't know what the actual time from real start line to finish line is yet (hoping it'll be posted somewhere on-line).

Here's the stats:
Ran 3.27 miles in 32:12.
Average pace of 9:51/mile.
Splits: mile 1=10:24, mile 2=9:41, mile 3=9:40.
Here's the happy me, after meeting my pace goal and setting a PR:

My "Racin' Music" playlist:
"The Best" by Tina Turner
"Raise Your Glass" by Pink
"FireWork" by Katy Perry
"I Like It" by Enrique Iglesias
"It's My Life" (live) by Bon Jovi
"Spinnin' Round" by PFR
"Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina & the Waves
"Hot N Cold" by Katy Perry