Resolution Run PR!

I did not start off the morning feeling very hopeful about the 5k.  This may be because my throat was a little scratchy, but it probably has more to do with the marathon spades game I played last night.  We have a running game going with my parents- there are tee-shirts and talk of a trophy for next year.  The game lasts all year.  The last game of the year had to start before midnight.  My mom and I were ahead by 10 points, both teams had 9 sandbags... it was fierce.  We lost the 2010 game by 11 points!  Of course we had to get the new game started, and as of this posting we are ahead by 130 points (!!!) and won't get to play again until March.  All of that to say I didn't get much sleep, but it was so worth it.

We woke up latish this morning, had a nice breakfast, and realized that the jogging stroller was at my school.  Oops...  After driving only a little out of the way to get it and discovering that its tires were flat and that there was no bike pump in the car, we got to the race in the fog with about 10 minutes to spare.  We found a pump to fix the stroller, which was for spectator purposes only; James is too heavy and squirmy and dare-devilish to push on a run.

I lined up near the front, which I never do, and took off.  My throat was soar and I was also scared of the Sudafed I had taken doing crazy things to my heart.  I am a little paranoid...  But I ran and felt good.  I passed some people, some people passed me.  The weather was great and I was perfectly dressed.  My trusty Brooks Ghost shoes felt like air.  With a mile to go, I knew I wasn't going to make my goal of finishing under 22:00, but I also knew I was running pretty fast.  With about .5 miles left, I caught up with a woman and we ran together for a little while.  Maybe .15 from the finish I heard Jenn yell "You have 15 seconds left!" and knew that meant I might possibly make my goal, so I kicked it, passed the woman, and crossed the finish line at 22:09, 22:05 chip time.

Here's the kicker- that woman I passed?  She was the first woman.  So by passing her, I was the first female finisher!  Holy Moly!  So I didn't make one goal (sub-22:00), but I attained something that had never occurred to me before- first overall female!  Yay!  I even won a pair of free Vasque trail running shoes which I will pick out tomorrow.

It was such a fun race, and I did set a new PR.  I knew a lot of other runners, so it was fun to cheer for people as they ran and as they finished.  My family was really nice about staying around for the awards, and James enjoyed the post-race oreos.  I feel a little weird about passing someone rather late in the race, but I didn't do it out of malice or even competitiveness with her.  I had a goal and wanted to see if I could make it.  The rest was gravy.

So, here's to 2011, another marathon year.