The second reason was that today was the DRC Tal Morrison Classic 5K/15K. It is a run sponsored by the running club Cotton signed us up for as our Christmas present. It is for a really good cause - scholorships! We chose to run the 5K this time.
We got up about 5:45 this morning and got ready to go out to White Rock Lake. We got to the race start at about 7:15 or so and headed up to Winfrey Point to get our bibs and pick up our new members running shirts. Then it was back to the car to put the shirts away, LOL. By the time we got back it was time for the final rest break before the race. We ran into Cotton's first grade teacher again and said hello and then I stood in line for a bit. We got down to the start line just in the nick of time.
Unfortunately, this is NOT a chip timed event so I pretty much knew I wasn't going to break my 30 minute mark on this one, as bad as I wanted it and as hard as I've been working to get there it wasn't going to be this particular race today.
The temperature was in the high 30's by race time at 8:00 ~ pretty cold, but fairly decent running weather in all...no wind to speak of. The gun went off and we (along with the other 600 or so runners) headed across the line. It took us a bit to get there. I hit the Garmin at the start so I'd have a pretty good record of the race for myself anyway. It was a slow go at the beginning, as with all races. No one was walking ahead of us this time though - and that was nice! We all started off at a pretty gentle pace and by the time I got a chance to look at Garmin we had done about .25 miles and were on a 10:00 minute/mile pace. Not too bad - I actually wanted to start out slow this time to see if it would help me at the end of the race. Rick stayed right with me and we just kept chugging along. I felt really good and I was starting to warm up a little as we ran. I looked down at mile one and we ran the entire first mile in 10:10, even with the slow start! I saw a glimmer of hope to make my goal!
We kept running and before I knew it Rick was tapping my arm and telling me there was a water stop up ahead. I moved over, grabbed a glass, took a couple of gulps without stopping and caught up with Rick again. It was so funny because I came up on his left side just as he was glancing over his right shoulder to look for me. I tapped him on his arm so he would know I was there and we picked up the pace again. It was time for the turn-around...we were 1/2 way done and I was still feeling good ~ in fact my hands were finally warming up!
The second half was even better than the first. There weren't as many people in front of us and they were more spread out so it was easier to keep our pace up. I kept trying to find runners I thought I could pass and really focusing on doing that. As we reached mile 2 I looked at the Garmin and it told me we had just completed the second mile with a 9:38 splilt time! Told you I was feeling good! Our overall Garmin time now was now 19:50...we were under 10 minute mile pace! I was amazed to say the least...things were looking good!
At about this point the young man we were running behind (I figure he must have been about 10 or so) just hit his wall. He had been running with a nice steady pace - right at the same pace Rick and I were running - but all of a sudden he just shook his head and slowed down to a walk...I felt bad for him as we passed him and kept on going. This is one of the few times I have actually passed a "kid"...they are usually FAST and pass me like I'm standing still!
As we ran the final 3.1 miles I was able to appreciate the beauty of the surroundings. The lake was awesome, and the wooded areas as beautiful as ever. The day was perfect! I kept seeing landmarks that brought back memories of our early morning training runs for the 1/2 marathon we ran back in November. We really need to get back to running outside to train for our 1/2 next month...
We hit the 2.5 mile marker and I was feeling better than I have in any race I have run so far. My legs still felt good, I was still relaxed, I didn't feel like I needed fluids, and my breathing wasn't too labored. I knew this was going to be a good one! Our final full mile split was 9:13! I think that is about the fastest full mile I have run since we started! That gave us a time of 29:03 for the full 3 miles ~ SURELY I would finish the race at under 30 minutes....only 1/10 of a mile to go....We picked up the pace and kept going towards the finish. As soon as we crossed the line I turned off the Garmin and looked at my final result...30:25!!! How could that be??? I looked over at the distance and saw not 3.10 miles, but 3.16 miles...could .06 miles make that big a difference? As soon as I got the opportunity I looked at what we had run the last .16 miles at...1:20! So close! We think our "official clock time" was right at 31:00 minutes, but we aren't sure, and the results haven't been posted yet. When I got home I hooked everything up and checked our time on SportTracks. We actually did the 3.1 official miles in ~ drum roll please ~ 29:54! That is :03 seconds faster than my fastest recorded 5K race time! HAH! I KNEW this race felt good!!!
Anyway...it is back to training tomorrow. Now we are working on the cowtown 1/2 marathon, only 4 weeks away! I'm looking forward to that one too!
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