It was a beautiful day for a run, and little dog (AJ) was with me as a race buddy.
I had been suffering stomach and digestive issues for a few days and it still hadn't cleared come race time. My goal initially was to beat 45. Come racetime I modified it to beat 48 minutes.
AJ and I started out quick and ran the downhill 1st mile in 7:05.
Followed the 2nd mile in 6:58. AJ was running pretty easy. I could tell i was
just slowng him up.
I tried to push it on the 3rd mile. I didn't do so hot. AJ was a little ahead of me, and soon I just told him to keep going and run hard. I think he felt bad for leaving me.
The 3rd mile came in at 7:37.
For miles 3 and 4 the woman leader (Kjersten) traded spots with me a few times. and some of the time we ran side by side. Her stride was effortless, and I knew I couldn't last.
4th mile came in at 7:43 and I knew I was slipping. Luckily my stomach was being quiet and mostly pain free. I resisted the urge to walk, but gave in about a minute into mile 5. I walked for 45 seconds. Then started out slowly again as the hill just drained all my power.
The 5th mile came in at 8:59.
Then I jogged up the hill to the corner, and I was hoping to have a little more power left for the finish, so I decided to take another walk break. This one lasted 30 seconds.
By this time, another female runner and another older "so it seemed" runner past me in the middle of my walk. When I started back up again I just tried to keep my position and finish strong.
As I turned down into the Coral Canyon turn-off I jogged past the 6 mile marker in 7:49. But I didn't feel like I had a whole lot left, and to be honest, I didn't think it really mattered much.
The 2nd place female runner was definitely in reach, and the "older" runner was close too. But, I coasted in. The last .2 in 1.26 for a 47.36 finish.
As it turns out, the "older" runner was actally younger by 2 years and thus, he was in my age group. He beat me by 1.6 seconds to win our AD. Doh!
I'm not sure how I feel about that. Would I have run harder if I knew he was in my age division? probably. Should I have run harder anyway? maybe. Was I just happy to be finishing knowing I wasn't feeling 100%? definitely.
All-in-all I enjoyed running because AJ (little dog) beat me by 2 minutes. He trained a little and really ran great. It makes the Big Dog proud, so even though I am a little disappointed in my effort, and result, I am happy for another run with my son. Plus, HotStuffPizza ran the 5k! Wahoo! That was cool and I am way proud of her doing her first run.
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