Cantrell Center 5K and stuff...

Well, it's that time again! Time for a lovely race update which will make you scratch your head and wonder, "And I care, why?" Whatever. I've always enjoyed writing stuff that no one cares to read! I think at some point I may have been an entertaining blogger, for about a week or so. But as I've stated numerous times, these days I pretty much only write about whatever is foremost in my mind: running and writing. Or running and not writing...errr... Believe me when I say it's all just a complicated coping mechanism to keep me from writing (and therefore fixating) on bigger problems, ie: house hunting.

So, onto my race recap!

This past Saturday was my seventh race! This particular race was the closest one to home that I've ever run, so Matthew and the kids decided to come with me. I went over Friday to pick up my race packet early so we wouldn't all have to leave at the crack of dawn on Saturday. Sophia came with me and we ooohed and ahhhed over my awesome race swag. (A koozie!) Just kidding. I never get good race swag. Anyway, early packet pick up is the way to go. Instead of leaving at some crazy early time we all rolled out of here just a few minutes before eight. This race was definitely the biggest I've run in so far, I think the final total was something like 850.

It was so nice to have Matthew and the kids there to hang out with me before the race started. I was pretty focused on hitting my PR, but having them there relaxed me a lot! (I take myself way to seriously, I'm aware!) Anyway, I made a pretty dumb mistake right off the bat when everyone was getting ready to start. I don't start out very fast so I don't like to be too close to the front, but not too far back, either. This time I ended up a little to far back for my pace. Because I'm so short, I couldn't even see where the official start was, there were so many people. I spent the first half mile jockeying for space and zigzagging around people. Oh well! After it opened up a bit I really started to enjoy the run a lot. The weather was a perfect sunny forty degrees and the course was through some nice neighborhoods.

Alas, the second half was a little less than pleasant. I had been warned by my sister-in-law who walked the course a few years back, that it was a hilly course. I regularly run hills in our neighborhood, but it's a whole other ballgame at race pace. (Hey, I rhymed.) Anywho, it flattened out before the last half mile or so and cranked up the pace. I passed a few more people and then headed around the corner to the final stretch where I started looking for my little family. I spotted them right away, gave a little wave and then cranked it up for the finish line. Final time: 26:33. I missed my PR again!!!

But....this time I wasn't too bothered. I had fun. I ran the best I could. I can't see how I could have gone any faster. We hung around for official results and age group placement stuff. I said I wanted to hit the top ten for my age group and I did!

My race buddies!

Race stats: (Because I'm OCD like that!)
Official time: 26:33 (avg. pace 8:32)
Age group: 7th out of 65
Overall: 134th out of 849

My next race is this Saturday! I've never run two races back to back so it should be interesting. It's another good chance for me to beat that bloody 25:57 PR since it's a super flat and straight course. And I'm running with my dad, which also makes me faster!

I had a bunch of other stuff to say about my retirement from 5Ks (for now), my upcoming birthday (29!!!), and other random stuff, but I'll save that for another day!