The Incredible, The Very Good, and the Ugly

Day 6
Fill the Ark 5k

I spent a lot of time last night studying the layout of the course and when I finally figured out how to get the elevation changes to show up, I realized that this course was going to be so much worse than I had anticipated. Beginning with a very large hill at the starting point. I think I spent TOO much time thinking about this and should've just gone into it blind.

However, I wanted to be as prepared as I could get, and the damage was already done by the time we got into Hillary's car to begin our trek to the race.

I don't know why I get so nervous since I know I'm not going to win any races or anything, but nerves tied my stomach in knots all night and the entire drive in. We arrived with 20 minutes to spare and there were a lot of people. It started raining and I ended up running with track pants on that acted like saran wrap. Christina grabbed her jacket and ended up having to tie it around her waist about 5 minutes into the run.

The starting line was packed when they blew the whistle to start and Hillary ran up ahead. It was the last time we saw her until the finish line.

Christina and I stayed together pretty well until the second mile. At the first downhill, Christina utilized the hill and was off. I plodded along and somehow got stuck in a group of people who kept running and walking. At the top of the 2nd mile, I crashed psychologically and ended up walking up the hill, with everyone else in my little bubble. It was a little demoralizing because it's been a long time since I've had to walk in a 5k. I was having a hard time catching my breath and hadn't taken a puff of my asthma inhaler before starting off. The relentless hills coupled with the inner berating I was giving myself put me into an asthma attack and I had to slow down to get it under control. The sun came out and the humidity picked up and I was sweating like a little stuffed piggy, so that didn't help matters much.

Christina and Hillary cheered me on at the finish line as I crossed at 33:__. Hillary did AWESOME at 27:40 and Christina did really well at 30:40. This was a very tough course.

Clearly, I need to work on positive thinking skills to train my brain to not give up. And I need to remember my mp3 player so the run doesn't feel so lonely. :( Some races are good and some are bad and I was just having an off day, I guess.

Good job girls. I'll be back in top form for our July 4th run, though won't be as fast as Hillary, that's for sure. Next year. :)