Love 'Em or Leave 'Em Race Report

Hooray! A race report! I haven't been able to post one in so long; I am practically giddy.

Sunday I ran in my third "Love 'em or Leave 'em" 5K at Green Lake. While not as "speedy" as in past years I was still very pleased with my time: 32:44 or a 10:22 pace. I ran this one just as kind of a check-in to see where I was and what I was capable of. I had taken essentially four months off from running last fall so I felt like I was starting back at the beginning when I started training in January. My first pace in January was 11:53 for a three-miler so the 10:22 is a huge improvement for me in a very short period of time. My 5K PR is looking good for this year!

I had to go to this Valentine's themed race alone. Kevin is suffering from some nasty shinsplints and Matt didn't feel like racing that day. I don't mind going places alone, in fact sometimes I miss that, but it seemed a little sad and mildly pathetic to go to the Valentine's run without so much as a friend. But I dragged my spinster behind out of bed early Sunday morning, drove to the lake feeling very unprepared and proceeded to have a fun race. The weather was a little chilly but the splits were good:

11:07 first mile - too many people and two bottlenecks on the course
10:07 second mile
10:04 third mile
8:29 for the last tenth (or .16 per my Garmin)

I was passed briefly by two people running in tandem as a giant heart. They couldn't have been very aerodynamic and it was a bit demoralizing seeing them trot past me but I persevered. Shortly after they passed me they began to walk and I chugged past them never to see them again. I take my victories where I can.

Everything went much better than the dream I had about the race the night before that involved carrying my tax textbook, crawling along ledges, getting stranded on someone's kitchen island, getting lost on the course, and not wearing any pants. Hooray for reality.