Shirley's 5k - 3rd Overall Female!!

I had been feeling a little under the weather for the past two weeks but it never really turned into anything. Work was so insane and I was working so many hours that I think my body knew it couldn't afford to get sick. So go figure that when things finally calmed down, I got a cold. I managed to get my 12 miler in on Friday before it got too bad and had a really good run. My knees aren't used to the distance like they were, though. I was a stiff going up and down the stairs the rest of the day and my legs were really tired. Saturday I managed to get out of bed to meet up with the club for an easy 5 miler. But unfortunately, that about did me in. I spent the rest of the day sleeping/laying on the couch, feeling really run down. My body was really sore and I had zero energy. I felt so beat up that I didn't think I'd make it to my 5k this morning. But I decided to set the alarm and see how I felt this morning since last year I set my 5k PR when I ran with a cold.

I woke up this morning feeling a little better and decided I'd give it a shot. If nothing else, I wanted to see how the Achilles felt really pushing it since I haven't done anything remotely close to speed work in months. Not only because of the injury, but because of slow poke Ultra training as well. When I got to the race the skies opened up and it started pouring. Not only was it raining but it was humid. Humidity, rain and a cold...perfect conditions!! At one point I hit the port o' pot and decided to hang out in there a little bit just to seek some coverage from the downpours!! Thankfully they were nice and fresh. But by the time I warmed up and headed to the start, I was drenched.

It was a tough out and back course with a lot of turns and hills. Right from the start my legs were heavy and about a half mile in I was sucking wind. My lungs were dying! It felt like forever to get to the first mile marker and I kept wondering if I was going to be able to do this. When I hit mile 1 I was averaging a 7 minute pace and didn't think I'd be able to hang onto that. Knowing I only had a half mile to go before we turned around quieted the thoughts of quitting...for a little bit. I felt like I had bricks on my chest and I've never heard myself breathing so loud. Anyway, I made it to the turn around, counted down to mile marker 2, then kept reminding myself I only had around 7 minutes of hell left to endure. I finished strong, but it wasn't a PR. Unofficial time is around 22:20 according to my garmin. But...I did manage to score 3rd overall female and got this little trophy!!

While I wanted a PR, I wanted a pain free race even more. I was a nervous wreck going into this race that pushing it would cause something to go horribly wrong. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. I pushed it pretty good and am happy to say, Achilles help up like a champ! So while I didn't get a PR, I'm still really happy with my performance considering the conditions, the course and me being sick. There's another 5k on Saturday that I'm thinking of running so maybe I can get my PR there...