Alyce T. Guettler Hunger Run 5k

Maybe it was too soon to sign up for another 5k, but when they're happening in my hometown, I get a little excited.  Plus, it was the cheapest race fee I'd ever seen.  Thus, the reasons Cindy and I ran the Alyce T. Guettler Hunger Run Saturday morning.

It was the least satisfying race of my short career and my slowest 5k time ever (you know, of the four official 5ks I've ever run.)

It didn't start out that way. Our plan was to run 11 minutes/walk 2 for the duration of the race.  Cindy and I tore off down the course in the beginning.  We ran the first mile in 10:29, according to my watch, which is mega fast for us.  We walked for two minutes, which was according to our plan, and then started off again.

My quads started aching, and we didn't have much to talk about (read: distract me from the horribleness that is running), so I didn't run the entire second 11 minute set. I crapped out about half way through.  This happened last Saturday during a training run too.  I just get to the point where I start thinking about how much farther I have to go, and then I just want to give up because it seems too far (hmmm...kind of like a  metaphor for when you need to lose an extreme amount of weight like I have/do).

Pre-race we are very smiley

But Cindy didn't let me quit and berated (read: encouraged) me to keep going. So after a minute or two of unscheduled walking, we picked it up again.  That second mile wasn't really all that slow either.  But on the third run, I walked a much larger portion, probably more than a quarter mile.  Again, Cindy was strong and kept encouraging me, even though I was not too fun to be around (read: whiney) by this point and I kept telling her to go on ahead without me.

When we got to that final kick-in-the-pants uphill, we agreed to run it and finish strong.  As soon as I could see the clock, I kicked up the speed a notch, and we crossed the line together at 36:08, my slowest time ever.

While I'm not satisfied with my performance, I'm trying not to be too hard on myself.  Some days are just sucky running days and sometimes it happens on race day.  Running is probably never going to be easy or natural for me, but I'm proud of myself for continuing to work hard at it.

Do you know what the best part of the race was? As we headed toward the finish line, and I was already upset with myself for walking so much, Kelly Clarkson's "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger" played on my ipod.  And I took those words to heart.

Post-race orange slices make things better.
Please note my awesome runner shirt made by David Loy.
And my gigantic and awesome runner's watch (read: Garmin).