An Unofficial 5k Win ( but at this point in my life i will take anything that feels good, official or not)

Hey so my sister got me to sign up for a 5k. Right after Rich passsed away she said "You need to do this 5k with me and my rowing friends." It was a Monster Dash so i knew i would pay too much for the race but about a month ago i was all up for planning anything that didnt involve a funeral home or lawyers. Sure. I am in.

Well a day or so before the race I see it starts at 11 am. Huh? who does a race at 11 am? I was torn bc i wanted to do the 10 miler which is a net downhill course yet truth be told ( dont be surprised) I have not been resting well nor have i been training well. I have been riding my bike an insane amount just to see Rich's friends and because it feels good and i dont really care if i am not running much or swimming 1500 yards and thinking that is an IM distance in my head. So...10 miles would be dumb. Like why waste that hamstring energy on that now?

My sister sadly got sick. She travels to India in a few days and she was smart to skip the cold weather run and the general standing around with 2500 people. Many of whom had dogs in costumes that even I would not want to wear for 1 mile, much less 3.1 miles with some hills. Granted It was around Lake Harriet but we actually got the roads which was nice, but meant a few punchy hills as opposed to the flat And boring path.

Race dayI emailed Jen that I Was going to skip it. She told me to go have fun. Hmm. Novel Idea.
so i went over there around 10, and really the bonus of an 11 am start is i had NO. EXCUSE. to have not done my PT work AND my dynamic warmups. I was ready, my hamstring has had some FIRING issues, that is about all i can say that wont change the tone of this post, but when i was warming up it was ok with the strides, etc..I did see two other girl who looked 1) about 20 years my junior and 2) Like they had alot more power than i did as they did their pick ups. I was like "whatever."

Air Horn goes off and tho i did have my Garmin i didnt look at it once. I just ran. Turns out my splits were perfect with even a negative split at the end. Mile 1 one of the above girls passes me at the mile 1 marker and then sits right in front of me and slows down. Hmm. SO i sat in for about 30 seconds then i passed her up a hill and never looked back. Some dude with an impressive jacket on ( National this and that championships) was also there but he must have been a spectator at those events. At the same time as the girl stopped in front of me, another girl BUSTED past us and i couldnt even see her that 2nd mile...until we started to come around the lake and were about 800 yards from the finish i did see her coming back to me. Hmm. Whatever. I just kept running. They were giving out candy at mile 2.5 and i thought "IF i stop i wont catch her, sorry Rich we have to keep on moving." Then i passed her about 200 Yards from the finish, she was BREATHIng WAY hard and we had to go up another hill and i knew that she was likely about 18 yo ( ok she was 25) and she may actually be able to sprint so i went up that hill and never stopped until after the finish. I really had no idea where we were and until i heard someone yell "Second woman" to her, didi know that I had actually won.

Of course this is an non chip event ( lame, why? we pay the same as the longer runners) but that is not worth lamenting. I barely saw the clock and was so gasping that i couldnt hit my Garmin till I had actually stopped. I do know a few things:

1) The Girl I passed was SO. EXCITED, to have gotten 2nd. She could not have been happier for herself or for me. When is the last time you got outsprinted in an Tri and felt that way about your competitiors? Just sayin....Ya she was not in my AG but i do think that runners seem genuinely a lot less CADDY about their placements than Triathletes. Sorry if you dont agree.

2) I would love to break 20. I did when i was a child. I think my PR is 19:15 on a flat course. If said "firing issues" were to cease i think that is a fun goal to look at. And I am darn pleased with this since my IM legs were actualy able to run and my IM engine allowed me to pass that girl just because she was there. No other reason than that.

3) I stood around, knew nobody, went home all happy knowing that not one of you can now look this up online since its not official but actually not really caring. Of course i did post it on FB and I am blogging about it so maybe i actually do care that you all know.

4) I ran with Rich. He was there with me the entire way. And while he isnt the fastest runner he sure knew how to get my head in the right place before a race. I am not doing any long distance ( well no IM) next year in 2013 unless i get lucky, but I am super excited to get some speed back. He also had some sweet kicks that he wore for surgery at the offices:

He is color blind which cracks me up that he liked these shoes and that surgery cap.

Here is Rich saying  : WE WON!!!!

YES WE DID WIN HONEY!!! 

One of the things that makes me happiest and makes me able to get thru each day is remembering Rich. So I guess you can expect my blogs to reflect that. Hope you on the East Coast are safe.