New Year, New PR!

What a weekend! I raced 2 live 5ks, a virtual 5k, and a Resolution Run! Ok, maybe I just ran the 2 live 5ks and I'm counting one as my virtual 5k and the second as my Resolution Run, but it was still a pretty sa-weet weekend for running. Plus my Pittsburgh Steelers just beat the Cleveland Browns [start up the trash texts with my Cleveland-fan friends who were at the game. Bwahaha]. :)

New Year's Eve (last night) was the Midnight Special 5k right here in Whitehouse. Actually, it started and ended at my old middle school and the course was the trail that I run on several times every week! The tagline for this race makes me giggle: "The race so long it takes 2 years to run it!" Haha! Anyway, I was telling anyone who asked that my only goal was to beat my 5k time from last June (35:52), but I was secretly (ok, once again, not so secretly if you follow me on dailymile) going for a 33 minute finish. I was a little nervous when I got there since my last 2 runs were plagued by shin pain, but I got there early and warmed up and stretched really well. I even wore my new Zensah compression socks instead of my normal socks. When they shot the gun to start the race, I found a comfortable pace (without looking at my Garmin) and just let myself run. I didn't even look down until I heard it beep for the first mile [10:01/mile pace]. The second mile was all about weaving through people who were dropping off and laughing at how many people were keeping my pace purely because I was one of the few people wearing a headlamp [9:51/mile pace]. This part of the trail has NO lights (hence why it's normally closed at dusk) for about 3/4 mile between road crossings and you're basically between a field and a just-started subdivision. It was DARK. I had a little bit of pain just under my ribs during the 3rd mile, but I breathed deeper and focused on my stride. I knew the course and how long it should take me between landmarks, and I was watching my Garmin the last mile, [I even had my playlist set to start Lady Gaga's "Edge of Glory" when I hit 30 minutes] but it didn't dawn on me what my finish time would be until I came around the last corner and could see the clock at the finish line in the parking lot. Without really thinking, I stretched my stride out even more and took off in a sprint the last 0.15 miles. I was SO happy when I saw that 0:31:16 on the clock as I crossed the finish line and the woman handed me my finisher's medal. The ushered us inside right away for hot chocolate and bananas. After only a couple minutes, they posted a sheet with times on it (Toledo Roadrunners does an AWESOME job at setting up races and making things run smoothly). It took me a couple minutes to realize that ONLY the top 5 in each age category was on that list ... AND I WAS ON IT!!! I was 214th overall, 86th of 163 women, and 4th of 12 in my age group (awards were 5-deep in each age group so I got a nifty champagne flute)! I barely made it out to my car before I started screaming and dancing around. I'm sure I looked like a fool, BUT I DON'T CARE! I was SO proud of myself!

New Years Virtual 5k picture

I counted my Midnight Special 5k as my New Years Virtual Race (hosted by Kiley @ Daily Vitamin F). I took the picture in the car after I stripped off all my cold-weather gear to give the cars around me time to get out of the parking lot (I was going to have to do a little maneuvering to get out without hitting the guy who parked next to me [NOT A PARKING SPOT FOR A REASON, JERKOFF!]). So, sorry you can't see the whole "bib" or my awesome medal. You'll just have to look at the previous paragraph if you want a semi-close up of the pretties.

As soon as the official race times are up (for both last night and this morning), I'll post the link in my "Races and PRs" tab. Actually, I'm getting all my posts and links set up over there so it's being updated on a regular basis.

Today brought on the Hangover Classic (I know, the name is great, isn't it? I was hoping someone would stumble into the community center this afternoon looking green and barely standing upright, but everyone looked like they were ready to run. Darn.). When I woke up, it was raining with ridiculous gusts of wind, which made me even more nervous than my shins did last night. I pretty much stayed in bed hitting the "snooze" button repeatedly until about an hour before the race was supposed to start. Luckily, the weather cleared up just as we all were getting to the community center and getting ready to go. We were still having some pretty insane gusts of wind (I guess they got up to 45+mph), but the rain was holding off. I wore my rain coat as a windbreaker (and just in case NW Ohio had a change of heart and decided to dump on us during the run). I went into this race just hoping to RUN the whole thing and wanting to ENJOY the run (note the "bib" in my picture for my Resolution Run). I was on Cloud 8 (ALMOST Cloud 9, but not quite) and I didn't know how my body would take running another 5k so close after last night. When the gun went off, I just blasted my playlist and focused on putting one foot in front of another. I was a little tired, but I could feel the strength in my legs. I physically COULDN'T run slower than an 11:30/mile pace. It just wasn't comfortable. Before I knew it, I was at the turn-around. I zoned out into my music again until I could see the 3rd mile marker and then I pushed it through the end. Just like last night, it was like my legs KNEW they needed to step it up at the end and I didn't really need to think about it. It just happened.

Resolution Fun Run 2012 picture

I used the Hangover Classic as my Resolution Fun Run (hosted by Amanda @ Run To The Finish). I think I'm already living my "resolution" (I don't really believe in resolutions and I don't believe New Year is the only time we should be making goals, but that's a whole other story). I really ENJOYED running the races last night and this afternoon. It wasn't just that I was finishing with great times (for me). I actually enjoyed the RUNNING. The feeling of strength in my legs. Knowing I'm physically and mentally capable of doing something I wouldn't have dreamed of a couple years ago. It's a great feeling. Oh yea, and sorry about another car picture. Mother Nature decided she couldn't hold it in any longer JUST as I was walking out the door of the community center and heading for my car. lol.

Oh, and funny story. I was telling my parents about these virtual races and fun runs and they decided to be smarty pants(es?) with the Resolution Run bib. While I was asleep, they took my bib, stuck a post-it note over MY resolution and wrote "sleep more" on it, stuck it next to my head, and took a picture. I didn't know about it until I uploaded the pictures off my camera a couple minutes ago. Yea, hilarious. And, no, I'm not going to post that picture on here. lol.

A huge thanks to Kiley and Amanda for hosting such great races/runs! Hope everyone had a great NYE/NYD and here's to a great 2012! :)