RACE RECAP: JOURNEY'S MARATHON/HALF/5K

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Yes, I did get a screen shot
from the interview!

I'll be honest, I was a little nervous about this year's 5K in Eagle River.  I was also tremendously excited!  I'm not sure which emotion was stronger.  This was the race that I'd trained for and I wanted to do well.  Spoiler Alert:  I set a new PR (Personal Record).  Another spoiler alert:  I wasn't happy with it.

I should have paid better attention to my Garmin who would have obviously told me that I'd gone out at the start way too fast -  nearly an 11:00 min/mile (that's about a minute faster than I normally run) but I was oblivious just trying to pass the walkers and not run over the children on the course.  There were a lot of kids running, which I think is great, but they don't have any idea about pacing (though apparently neither do I) nor do they realize that suddenly stopping in the middle of the course might mean that someone coming up behind them has to stop as well (or not if mowing kids down is acceptable to you).

Another shot from the interview

I like the course a lot because it's mostly flat but with just enough hill to make you want to make it your bitch but not enough that it could make you it's bitch.  I knew from last year that the water stop was essentially half way and that if I ran to the water stop then I could take the water and walk a little bit and then run the other half back.  That was my plan and I stuck to it, unfortunately, that's where the wheels came off the bus a little bit for me.  After the turn around I had no plan, other than to run.  This is the moment where I finally looked at my watch and realized that I'd been running for 27:00 and I was still .65 miles from the finish.  While this may not sound like a lot (and as I type this I could kick myself for not just running it) my longest run had only been 30:00 and I really started to doubt myself.

After the race, after the interview, after the coffee!

So, I walked.  I walked for a total of 5:00 during the 37:24 that it took me to finish the race (about 30-45 seconds were at the water stop) but I finished the race by running the last 0.4 miles including crossing the finish line because let's face it, that would have been lame to cross the finish line walking.  Especially since there was a reporter from Newsline9 there to interview me.  The walking part is the reason I was disappointed with the race because I had intended to run the entire way.  I know that with more training and time that I will run a whole race and clearly that'll be all kinds of awesome.

Regardless of a new PR, or walking or the fact that the guy who won the marathon then asked to be interviewed (sorry dude, I realize you just ran 26.2 miles and you SHOULD get all the camera time in the world) but the best part was that I got to spend the day with my amazing sister on a gorgeous sunny day in one of my favorite places in the world.  It was most definitely a good day!