Been a minute...

Just decided to put a little update, since I dont post much as of late. I just had my 5k run this past Saturday. I had already tested out my even paced running, and it felt good but easy. This time around I was going to test out going fast and hanging on for dear life!! This race was run on Belle Isle, which is an island just off of the Detroit River. It gets kind of windy there. But, this day was not the wind... it was HOTT!!!! Probably like 83 degrees when we ran and the sun was beaming!! The race started around 9:45 am. I just cant run in this heat!! It sapped all of my energy. I was contemplating running the 10k, but changed my mind at the last minute on registration. Glad I did!! There was no water for the 5k or the 10k during the run... and did I say it was hottttt??

Well, my first mile was 6:25 and I was a little tired then. There were no mile markers and the 5k / 10k split was not marked either. (yes this was a low budget race). I ran this last year, so I had a good idea when the split was to occur. My second mile was 6:57 pace. See... the monkey jumped on my back then. Around mile 2.5, I started to fade. I was drenched in sweat, and was just ready for it to end. I have this thing about slowing down near the end... taking it easy because I know the end is near. I gotta get out of that, it costs me so much time. My last mile was like 7:17. We were running on the street, and I had parked on the street near the start. I kept thinking "My car is here somewhere, and I know the end is near so just look for it". I have a short attention span. LOL.

My last 5k, I just cruised in and had a kick at the end. This was a whole different story. I had no kick (or at least I had no kick attempt). I was huffin and puffin at the end of this one. I just hate the heat... I think my sweat was weighing me down. Plus to add insult to injury, I had on all black. The weatherman said it was going to be cloudy and possible showers... just the opposite!! **note to self... never where black again** I finished with a 21:33. I really thought I was going to PR this race. That actually was my goal. But I'm still aiming at getting back under 20 minutes for the 5k this year.

Now I'm doing hill training. This has ALWAYS been my weakness. I guess I gotta do it to get better. Running through this neighborhood with nothing but up-down-up-down its killin me, but I know I need it. I have a 10 miler in a couple of weeks called the Crim. Its notoriously known for its hills. I have to be ready for them. For this hilly course, my goal is 1:20:00 and under.

Its funny... while I'm running and it starts to hurt, I'm always thinking "Aint no way in the world I can run this FULL marathon if its going to hurt like this for that long". Crazy thing, I PR'd my half by basically jumping outta bed with no fear. My first ever 10k, I was scared as can be, because I had never run that far before, and PR'd. Now that I got some races under my belt, I cant PR for nothing. Maybe I'm scared to be fast... (inside joke from RW).