Johnny's Runnin' of the Green 5 mile race



Photo from http://www.grtconline.org/

 Yesterday I ran Johnny's Runnin' of the Green 5 mile race downtown. It was the same course as the Thanksgiving Day race, and I know it's dumb, but I would have been disappointed if I didn't beat my previous time of 36:33. I was really nervous before the race, but luckily when the gun went off, all the nervousness turned into energy. My first mile was just over 7 minutes and I was a little worried it was too fast, but I felt pretty good so I told myself to relax and try to maintain that pace.  Whenever I felt tired, I told myself the faster I go, the sooner I can stop. Apparently it worked because I finished in 35:05 (154th out of 1655), which is my fastest 5 mile race ever!

I ran the Johnny's race once before, in 1999 when I was 17. I found the results from that race and my time was 44:20. I can't believe how much faster I am now than when I was in high school and college. I love it! Hopefully I will continue to get stronger and faster.

I'm totally happy with yesterday's race. Still, I know that every run can't be the best and sooner or later I'm going to have to deal with a less than stellar race. Such is life. Some days are better than others. When a bad race happens, I don't want to beat myself up about it. I hope I can take it in stride, learn from it and move on to the next one.

This morning I ran about 11 miles with a few people from running group. I definitely felt the aftermath of yesterday's race in my leg muscles, but it means that I pushed myself yesterday. Plus I have to get used to running on tired legs because I'm definitely going to feel tired at the end of the marathon.

Lyric of the moment: "I'd like to think the best of me is still hiding up my sleeve..."