My 2nd 5K

I know, I have not written here for awhile. I can come up with lots of alibis but I chose not to. The weather is mean up here in Maine and training plans are always messed up. Anyway, I finally did my second 5K today, and that is something worth writing about. Yes, today I joined the 2nd Annual Patriot 5k "Lap Around the Lake" in Gray Maine.

I set out early today so I can have enough time to people watch. This is one of the things I enjoy doing before the race. I arrived about 45 minutes early and I got the best parking. That is very very important.

I picked up my bib about 30 minutes and did not wait one second to pin my number on my belt.I had enough time to check out the porta-potty twice. Whew, blame it to the tea I drank at breakfast. Then, I people watched. I watched kids doing the hula hoop competition... people doing their routine stretching... volunteers doing their tasks diligently... and yes, fashionista runners cruising along in their best trendy running outfits.

So why do I "people watch"? It relaxes me. It gives me time to weigh myself... gives me time to psyche myself up that I can cross the finish line without embarrassing myself... gives me a chance to look for someone I can run with and hopefully make a friend after the race... and yes, gives me an idea of the latest trend in sports fashion runway. wink.

SO... we started on time. I met someone who looked less threatening... so I thought. She was alone or shall I say without anyone she was talking to or someone she seemed to be running with because most of the runners there seemed to be in a group. So I decided to run with her. She is in her 60s. There, I have someone who can keep up with my "slow pace"... and so I thought again.

As we started running we started to get to know each other. We just chatted during the first few yards but since we were running it was hard to really talk. As we went a little further, we kept quiet. And she was nice enough to tell me... "I can't talk while running because I am concentrating on my breathing." Good point! Then I replied... "Yes, I understand. Maybe we can talk again when we walk.". Then she replied back... "Oh No, I don't plan to walk!" Bam!

She didn't walk. She ran all the way to the Finish Line. Leaving me behind. hahaha.

Well, I did a great job running today. I am so proud of myself despite my funny experience with Alice. I finished 318th among the 405 runners who joined the race. That is historical for me. I was not the 5th to the last to cross the finish line and I clocked in 36 minutes and 45 seconds which is more than 6 minutes less than my first 5k which is 40:48.

I am so proud of myself for doing a great job today. To think that I didn't get the chance to really train due to bad weather I still did it in less time of my original PR. I met a new friend and learned new things about running... one of which is to run on an easy pace and don't walk [if you can]. I didn't realize that I can ran without stopping. Well, I was able to ran without stopping for the first mile and a half but I had to walk for 2 minutes because my shin was kinda bothering me.

I guess I ran most of the time today compared to my 1st 5k. I did walk for a total of about 5 minutes for the duration of the race. And yes, crawling to the finish line was never an option.