Well, the results have already been posted. So soon!

Apparently, I really lost track of the time near the end. I finished the race in a blazing 39:02. That’s a pace of 7:49 per kilometre.

Yeah, that’s quite slow–but in the expected range for my running history. So what can I do better?

1. I shouldn’t eat heavily the day before the race. I made that mistake.
2. It’s only 5K–I can probably go without the water belt.
3. I should pace myself better! Maybe it was a case of too much, too fast.
4. Losing weight will probably help move faster.
5. Breathing should have been more controlled.

I’m ready to do better.

I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night. My nerves really got to me. I made it a point to really get as much sleep as I could, so I turned of the lights at 9 p.m. However, due to my overactive mind, I lay there for two hours making no progress. I eventually full under past 11 or so. All things considered, I probably got more sleep than the rest of the Learn to Run class members I was running with.

The alarm went off at 4, and I was out the door by about 5:25. I got to the Running Room at about 5:45 and was the second one there. We did agree to meet at 5:45, so it wasn’t like I was eager or anything. Really, being that it was so early in the morning, I couldn’t blame anyone for being just a few minutes late.

One of the group leaders had all of our runners kits which was really nice. I got mine and fished my bib out. Number 736. Wow! I had a number. How strange. Mentally, I associate them with real runners. Honestly, even with the number, I wasn’t eagerly including myself in that subset of the human population, you know? While we were all gathering, my instructor was asking if anyone wanted espresso. She asked enough times that I eventually caved. What’s the worst that coffee can do, right?

We split ourselves among four cars and left for the yacht club at about 6. We made good time and arrived well before start time. After spilling out of the cars, we milled around a little bit and started pinning our numbers to our shirts. Things were seeming more and more official my the minute. As we walked to the club, I spotted the start/finish line, and all I could think of was: “whoa…there it is.” That’s where I wanted to be withing the next hour or so. So weird. We walked around among the other competitors. The eagerness of everyone was certainly palpable. Off to the side, I told one of the people I came with that I felt like I stepped into some bizzaro world. I still didn’t feel part of it all. People were so happy. There were some competitors dancing off to the side. I felt more like a spectator than a participator. Still, there I was. We all wanted to be there at that moment. That’s what unified us. Read the rest of this entry »