Who knew?

"They knew better, still you said forever . . . . and ever. . . . who knew?" P!nk

Finally a race!! My first race since last August was yesterday and I had low expectations. This was my fourth year doing the Captains 5K in Eastlake and I really didn't expect to go much under 29 minutes. I haven't been doing much running as I try to squeeze in my morning workouts of weights, elliptical, and swimming. I started running outside a couple weeks ago and my "long" run is still under 6 miles and my "fastest" mile split is just under 9 minutes. So, I figured 30 minutes was a good possibility for my finish time even though my other times have been between 24:05 and 25:00 (last year was 24:31). My friend, Naira, told me a couple weeks ago that she thought I'd be much faster, but I dismissed it as being a good friend and trying to pump me up.

Well, she definitely knew better. I could feel my legs starting the slow burn before the first mile mark and I had Linda, an age group competitor pull past me and I thought, "oh no. . . this could be a long day". I stayed with her and we hit the mile in a surprising 7:43. So now I thought I'd be dying on the second or third mile and wasn't sure how long I could hold on, but I made a little surge and got in front and kept pushing. I knew she was right with me, but I tried not to think about letting up. I just wanted to stay as strong as possible and tried to maintain my pace. I think mile two has always been slower for me, but when I saw E-Speed calling splits, I hit my watch and saw 7:40! Woo hoo! Who knew I could still hit that kind of split! Now to just hold on for one more mile. . . .

About that time, the P!nk song popped in my head and kept running on a continuous loop. I wasn't sure how close Linda was, but I knew I didn't want to let up a bit since I felt pretty damn sure she was really near. Sure enough with about 3/4 of a mile left, her mother-in-law was there yelling, "Linda you look great!". Crap!! OK, no time to relax or think about my legs now. . . .

I passed the green shirt guy and hoped that would put the "nail in the coffin" so to speak. We turned into the parking lot and ran around the stadium to the outfield entrance and along the red clay surrounding the ball field. Then I heard footsteps coming on their final kick . . . . "dear God not Linda, dear God not Linda . . . ." Green shirt guy flies by me, OK. . . . more foot steps, damn! Some other guy (I think I passed him at the beginning of mile 2) sprints by. The best part was where he crosses over and up onto the plastic covering the bullpen mound and WIPES OUT totally!! I mean he belly flopped down the other side, arms outstretched! I couldn't help myself from saying, "Safe!", but I'm not sure he saw the humor in it. For the record, he did bounce back up and out sprint me to the finish.

Now I could see the clock as I came down the first base line -- 23 something. Whoa! Can I make under 24??? I pushed as hard as I could (still running scared that Linda is going to use an amazing kick to sprint by me before the line) and hit the finish in 23:55! My best time at this race! Linda was only seconds behind me and we finished 1-2 in our age group! I definitely owe her because I know I wouldn't have pushed myself that hard without having her working me. I'm happy to see the competitive spirit lives on and the body still has some surprises for me. I'm attributing my unexpected speed to all my booty work in the gym. :-)

This is our family affair race and the boys did the 1 mile Skipper Trot. Liam and his buddy, Alex took the top 2 spots with Alex in at 7:30 and Liam at 7:50. Conor came sprinting in at 11:47 with Bill not far behind. What a fun day! Then, what else, off to soccer!