Sunday, March 1, 2009

A Little Tribute to a Local 5K


I ended up racing the little 5K that was held over at my favorite running place; it was held on the dam road that connects the west side of the lake to the east side and sits up so high that you can see the entire front range and downtown Denver. It's pretty awesome. It's closed to runners and cyclists so I thought it a special treat to have it closed off for this little race.

I really don't enjoy running 5K's because they flat out HURT. You have to run them hard but how hard is always the question. I typically take off too fast in any race. Adrenaline or anxiety or both and wham....I'm always at the first mile sooner than I want. In almost every race. But in the shorter race, if you hit it sooner than you want, you don't really have time to slow because the race is almost over. I hit mile 1 in a 6:56. Yeah...definitely too fast. But I wasn't sure if I could keep that pace...though I was hurting. But could I hurt just a little longer? I hit mile 2 at 7:10 and I was really feeling it here. Mile 3 slowed even more but I happily finished at 22:32 (7:16 average pace). My lungs were killing me (I definitely need more tempo running workouts). It's gotta be at least pre-twin era before I ever ran under 23 minutes for a 5K. Next time, I hope I can manage under 22. :)

This was a very small race and so I knew I had a chance of placing well. And I did: I cranked an official 2nd place in my age group and 9th female overall. Woohooo! I got a medal and a gift certificate to a local running store here in town and.....I won a pair of running sunglasses in a drawing! Wow! I never win anything. So in the long-run, I actually MADE money on this little local race and I wanted to pay homage to it by sharing some pictures of those that made the race possible - a huge thanks to all!!!!!
I'm tired and my legs are feeling it. I look forward to a little less running this week (I hope) and maybe hitting more cross training. I cannot believe Boston is only 7 weeks away *gulp*. I'm gonna go and hit an ice bath...as promised!
4 miles run




















1 comment:

Dennis said...

Thanks Jill, it was a fun little race, glad I did it. I think you captured the event well with your pictures. My favorite is the one with the announcer in front of the no-runners/bikers sign, I just wish his van was in the picture too. I'm pretty sure that guy is a clown in his real job. Thanks for the pic of me on a rare trip to the podium. You ran a fantastic race, especially considering you have been training so hard and came off a 26 miler 2 days ago. Congratulations on 2nd in your division. I still think the lady who won your division was 25.