85 Days Remaining - Saturday Morning Live Uncommon Race For Renewal 5K

Woke up this morning with thoughts of running one 90 minute loop prior to the 5K race today. I decided to sleep in until 5:50(that is sleeping in for me, especially when I was asleep before 9 pm). I decided to skip the long run and go for it during the 5K today. I did not want any excuses. As much as I told myself I did not care about breaking 20 minutes on this race......I really did. I really wanted to come in under 20.

Last night we ate at Texas Roadhouse and I ate like a pig. Pull pork dinner with jack cheese and mushrooms, rolls and the butter, loaded baked potato, and some fries from the plate of my son with a big beverage to wash it all down left me feeling full and bloated. Not sure why I ate so much, but I did. Tacking the calories it was more calories and fat consumed in this one meal then everything I ate throughout the entire day. I eat a lot throughout the day, trust me.

This morning I had some coffee and two waffles. This is just standard ritual. I was still hungry, but I did not want to eat too much. I knew from the dinner last night that I had enough in me to be fine. I relaxed for about an hour, showered and then headed to the race.

When I arrived it was cold. I missed the kid race as I was pinning my bib on my shirt, but ran a short .5 mile run with Chad to warm up. He was ready to go. I could tell. I ran up one hill one more time and then it was ready to rock.

There were a ton of LU people running today. It was sweet to see all the shirts and gear. We really overtook the race and it was a cool site.

My goal for the run was to run 6:30 for the first two miles and then try to hang on for the last. I did not check the course ahead of time. All I knew was that there were two hills somewhere and one was tough.

We started the race and I was near the front(it was a small race so it was not hard to get up towards the front). I started off and felt good. My body just fell into a good pace. My knee pain went away for the most part once I started moving. We hit that first hill and I just tried to maintain without going all out. It had my HR going for sure and I was running around 7:20 pace up the hill. Once we got to the top I tried to regain my breathing and slowly work back down to race pace. At mile one I thought I was right around 6:30 and I was at 6:34 so I was in a good place.

I really did not feel like I had picked up the pace the second mile. It felt nice and relaxed. At 1.5 miles was when I decided to make a decision to hit 20 or not. I felt that I could based on how I felt and my time. However, once I finished with mile 2 I began to think I was not going to hit my mark. I don't know what I was thinking, but in my mind I thought I would be over. Mile three proved interesting running down a steep hill. I had so much momentum that there was no stopping this body. I just prayed I would not trip. Because of the hill my time for the third mile was real good.

I was able to pass one guy on the last stretch to the finish and I think I took 4th(I honestly don't know). My watch read 19:13 and the clock read 19:09 so I going with the clock because it looks better.

I am very happy with this time and the race. I did not feel exhausted afterwards. If I had to rate my effort I would put it around 85%. I finished with the feeling of having more in the tank. That is a good feeling. I am glad to not be exhausted. This is a new PR for me. About 11 months ago I ran the Wild 5K and ran 21:27. To see my time drop over a minute and not feel completely drained is a great sign that the training I am doing is working. I need to continue to work hard on my swim and bike and make sure I get those Yasso 800's in each week. I think I can continue to drop some time off my run which will help me in these races and more importantly in my triathlons where I feel most confident on my feet.

Great job to everyone who came out today to help in raising money for Project Renewal. It is a great organization and this was a great race. I liked the course and it was well ran and operated. To all the LU people I look forward to hearing about how you felt you did. It looked impressive seeing everyone finishing strong on the course.

When I am able to snag some photos I will upload them, but I am now off to hang with the kids, find time to get a ride in and go from there. Enjoy your weekend and keep GETTING IT DONE!