race report: surprise! surprise!

ever since my last 5k time of 31:10, a PR, i might add, i've been itching to see if i have what it takes to run it in 30. but ever since i started working at the hotel, races were pretty much out of the question because i work in the mornings on the weekends. so i was stoaked to find one on a friday night in sacramento!

but with temps in the high 80s and tons of sun, the weather was much more suited for the beach than a race. nonetheless, i was still excited to be among my brethren runners. i wish i could bottle the adrenaline and excitement of race day! being surrounded by so many runners just makes me swell with pride. like i'm part of this great big "something". cheesy, i know, but it's the truth.

my goals for the race were to #1. not die in the heat (i'm so not accustomed to it) #2 definitely pull it off in 33 and #3. aim for 31, with wild hopes of doing it in 30. i sat in the my air conditioned car for as long as i could. i decided to pin my number on my belly instead of over my chest. and i tied my timing chip to my left sneaker, rather than my right. it's odd because i'm very superstitious but something told me to do it this way, instead of my normal way.

i made sure to hydrate like a mo'fo' all day yesterday and today. so i peed like 3 times in the hour and a half before the race. but once i started i swear to bob, my throat felt sooooo dry! i chalked it up to mucous issues, as i'm not fully well yet. i tried to not let it distract me. i knew there was a water stop somewhere along the course, so i just kept imagining i was in an ice castle with pools of ice cold water everywhere.

the first mile was tough. i made sure not to line myself too far back with the walkers like i did last time. but maybe i was too far up because i ran the first mile in 9:24!! what is it with me running sub 10:00 miles lately?! i was definitely feeling it, so i told myself to back off just a bit. my mouth was still parched and i had no idea where this blissful waterstop would be. at the halfway point, i finally spotted it and slowed to a walk to gulp down some agua. i was breathing hard and very very hot. i imagined i must be red at this point, which for someone as brown as me, means it's hot! but i just told myself, "it's supposed to feel uncomfortable. it's supposed to feel this way. this feels good!"

i chugged along to mile 2: 10:00. at this point, i'm doin 'the math and i know i have to run the next 1.12 miles in a little over 10 min. i'm seriously doubting i can. i'm hot! i'm breathing really hard! and did i mention i'm hot!!? but i pressed on. whenever i felt like stopping to walk, i said, "just keep running, pull back if you have to, but just run" and whenever i felt hot, i'd just repeat my mantra, "this feels good!" i probably repeated those three words like 100 times in the last mile, while i wondered just how much further i had!! my brain was racing just as fast as my feet were! finally i saw the 3 mile marker! i glanced at my watch: 9:59, overall time: 29:24:37.

HOLY SHIT! i just might fucking finish this 5k in 30 minutes! all thoughts flew out of my head and i just gunned it finishing in 30:12:28!!!!

ok so technically it's not a SUB-30, but i'll still take it! especially on a hot day like today. especially when i haven't even been training specifically for speed. i crossed that finish line and felt like a total bad ass!!!! i totally surprised myself. and that's what i love about running. it reveals to me just how much i underestimate myself and just how much i really am capable of. today wasn't so much a physical victory as it was a mental one. with the power of positive thoughts, i was able to trick my hot, uncomfortable, body into crossing that finish line faster than i ever have.

this feeling right now is one i'll definitely carry with me on marathon race day!