My legs felt tight all day because all the sprinting from the previous day's flag football escapade. I did not prepare myself mentally throughout the day. But how can you when you're at work? I did not prepare myself physically by hydrating or stretching throughout the day. But how can you when you're at work? I was hoping the mental and physical preparation would all come together in my half an hour pre-race stretch and warm-up routine.
I saw my internet buddy Terri who organizes the race. I guess I can call her my real buddy now since we've met on several occasions. She wasn't running today. Tonight was the biggest turn out that I've ever seen. Maybe it was because of the pizza. There were a couple of high school track teams. I lined up one spot back in lane one. Nobody was taking pole position, but with the turnout, there was no way I was going to. I spotted Jim Prescott, one of AZ's finest road racers in the masters' division. I told him I saved him a spot.
Mark, set, go. I was amazed at how fast people got in front of me. It was like a funnel of legs and BO. I even had to slow down because I was cut off. That was probably a good thing. I started off waaay too fast. I couldn't believe it when I hit that first lap in 1:19, six seconds faster than last time. But I thought, "I'm in better shape than last time. Let's see if I can hold it." Coming down the straight away as I finished my second lap I knew I was in trouble because my vision was blurred, and I couldn't see the clock. I finished that lap in 1:27. I remember thinking, "I'm on pace for a 5:32. Holy cow!"
But I knew I was fading fast. I told myself to just hold on one more lap, then try to finish with a good kick on the last lap. The third lap was 1:37. I got passed by about three guys. I kinda felt bad, but not too much, because they had to go around me. The last lap was 1:35. So it was a little faster than the third lap, but just barely. That's exactly how I used to run in high school. My third lap would always be my slowest, and usually way slower than the rest.
These are Garmin splits with a slight adjustment because Garmin measured it at 1.02 miles. I will update my time when the official results come out, but for now I think I was 1 second slower than last month. Then again, last month I thought I ran a 5:58, but it turned out to be a 5:57. So, here's for wishful thinking.
After the race I thought I was going to die. Sorry Sis. Esplin. No chunks or heaving. But the top of my lungs were, I don't know how to describe it, it felt like I was hit by a bronchitis bus. I thought about bagging the second mile because I for sure broke 6 again. But I really wanted some pizza and would have felt guilty for eating some without running both miles. So I finally felt a little better and did the second mile as a cool down. I got lapped by about 5 guys and finished in 7:37. I was actually surprised I broke 8 minutes.
My lungs still hurt. I wonder if it is bronchitis and running that hard triggered something. About three hours later I finally hacked up some phlegm. I hope I feel better for my 5k on Thursday. I want to break 22. Maybe 21. | 