I wasn't feeling that great this morning as I warmed up for the race. Teren and I went on a date to a French cooking class at Sur La Table last night. The food was excellent, but I'm not sure it agreed with my stomach, since I woke up with the taste of garlic still in my mouth.
I warmed up by running the course, and was pleasantly surprised that it felt easier than two years ago when I ran it. Of course, I was eight weeks pregnant at the time! I was really excited for the team competition, because we seemed to have a pretty good shot at winning.
The Law Days 5k course is pretty tough. The first mile is all uphill, and today we had a fairly stiff headwind too. I traded the lead with Emily Bates, the top girl on the competing team, through the first mile. (Note to self: More hill repeats, more weights, more core!) I put a surge on after the first mile when we made the turn off of the hill. The course flattens out, and then winds back through campus. It's mostly downhill at this point, but it does have some pretty nasty hairpin turns where you have to head back uphill. I tried to increase my lead, and was feeling pretty good
There is a point in the course where it doubles back to the start. There were still people heading to the first mile crossing through. I couldn't see the cones that indicated the direction I was supposed to run, so I came pretty much to a complete stop until someone pointed out the way. (I'm sure this cost me a few seconds!) Then we dropped down to 1300 East and it was back to the Law School for the finish.
I was happy to get a win, and even happier that our team won the team competition. I was disappointed in my time. It is 9 seconds faster than I ran a few weeks ago at the Salt Lake 5k. I also think this course was more difficult. I just had hoped to be a little further along on my journey to sub 18 minute 5ks.
My stomach was cramping badly after the race. Devra and I ran a two mile cooldown. I wanted to go 4, but I was struggling after 15 minutes of running. So, when I got home, I ran through the neighborhood to finish my mileage. My stomach seems to be recovering, now.
Well, I will just keep plugging along on the path back to running fitness! I really want to be fast again! | 