Chuck's 5K & I've got some work to do

First things first – Happy Labor Day! I spent the morning doing homework and will be spending the afternoon the same way. I really hope you are doing something more exciting!!

I’m two weeks late with this post, but hey, better late than never. I ran my first race of the year on August 17^th – Chuck’s 5K. My friend Chuck puts on the race and it benefits my high school team, the one I ran on and the one I coached for three years. It was good to be back running with my running community. I had forgotten that feeling of being surrounded by hundreds of your closest friends.

I wore my new green shorts and looked like a watermelon

Justin was still training for his triathlon at that point, so he made the race a brick workout. While he was on his 18 mile bike ride, I was catching up with friends and did a quick half mile warm up.

I LOVE RACING

The adrenaline when the gun goes off, the thrill of passing the person in front of you, knowing at mile 2.5 that you have just enough strength left for a kick….I LOVE RACING.

Post-race "we're so awesome" picture

I ran WAY faster than I expected. I was planning on a 9:00 pace and taking it easy. It turns out running with my friends motivated me.

Chuck's 5K Splits
Mile 1: 8:04

Mile 2: 8:42

Mile 3: 8:25

.1:       0:46

Time: 25:57 – my fastest 5K of the year! The first mile has a lot of downhill and was pretty fast in general. Mile 2 has all of the hills. I also recognized that 8:04 was waaaay too fast so I slowed it down. I rarely have a kick, but when I turned the last corner and saw the time on the clock, I found that kick. I wanted to break 26:00 so bad, and I did!

The race is known for unusual awards..monkey's in a barrel this year!

I was 11^th place for women (there were no age group awards) and Justin was 21^st for the guys. I can’t remember his time, but even after getting off the bike, he ran faster than he thought he would. It was a good running day for both of us.

I don’t have another race on the calendar until November. It’s a 5 Miler on Thanksgiving and I have a big goal: I have to place in the Top 500. This will be my 11^th year running this race (and Justin's first year!). The Top 500 finishers get their name on the back of the T-shirt and I would hate to break that tradition. Last year I was 176^th with a time of 38:31. To make the Top 500, I have to beat last year’s 500th place time of 46:06. I ran 5 miles yesterday in 49:46…I have some work to do before November :)