Cigna 5k and 200 days!

The weather for this race was AWESOME! It was 75 with no humidity. I have no idea how in August we lucked out like that! Traffic was a NIGHTMARE, I sat on the off ramp for 20 minutes and finally went the opposite way and parked a mile away. Gave me a chance to do sprints on the way up. It was my first race with my Nike+ shoes. Having the chip in my shoe is so much easier since I just hit start and set it to a 5k run and it does all the math! I started off way too fast for my pace. There were 5328 runners and it was hard at first to not get caught up in the fast pace. My first mile came up before I knew it and I ran a 10:50 and I knew I couldn’t keep that pace up ( I wish but not yet!) so when the water stop came up I actually stopped to drink water which helped me to fall back a little more and slow my pace. Mile 2 was pretty boring so I’m glad I had some good music. Going into mile 3 there was a hill. I was like WTF are you KIDDING ME? It was BRUTAL! I called it my own little heartbreak hill, but I kept my feet moving and told myself it would be pointless to walk at this point. The last .1 there are always a ton of people which is a good motivator to get to the end! I crossed the finish line and according to my chip I ran the 5k in 40:17 (13:01 pace). According to my bib I ran in 41:42 (13:26 pace). This time I’ll go with my chip since there seemed to be some errors on scoring and times kept changing. Either way I shaved time off my last race which is always the direction I’m headed. There was no fruit left so I grabbed a Powerade, grabbed my free but I’ll never wear shirt and walked the mile back to my car.

So my goal for August is to get up to 4.5 miles and then by the end of September 6 miles for the 10K in October. Next week is the Run for the Fallen and then the 28th is the Tavern to Tavern 5k. Not sure I can drink beer before 10 in the morning but if that’s what I have to do I will! After October I will probably concentrate on building distance (SO NO BILL I WILL NOT RUN THE ZOMBIE 5k!!!) since there are a mere 200 days until the ½ marathon. It will be interesting to run in the winter! I also decided (or was coerced) into playing softball this fall, so we’ll see what kind of entertainment I can provide!

At some point I’m sure Kelly, Deanna and I will start group runs. Really Kelly and I had the best of intentions to run last weekend but Saturday was a pajama day and Sunday it was like a monsoon so we just stuck to our own regiments for the week! Well kids that’s all this week. Get your feet moving even if it’s taking the stairs or parking farther away at the grocery store!

Daily Mantra: "In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."