Race Report: Scarecrow 5k 10-6-07

It's Friday night, and I'm trying to go to sleep. I keep on thinking about the race and my heart thumps in my chest with excitement and I resort to drawing numbers in my mind to calm down. I have a much easier time falling asleep tonight than I did before the Glen Iris.

Saturday morning I get out of bed at 7:15, let Cammie out and make my smoothie. I've had breakfast and have left for the race by 8:00. I still feel that just-woke-up queasiness in my stomach and look at the sunny, foggy/hazy morning and feel just the slightest bit of trepidation about the race. But I brush it away and enjoy the beautiful morning as I drive to the race.

I turn down main street toward the race location and see tons of runners jogging around... did I miss the start of the race? No, the race starts at 9:00 and it's 8:30. I'll be fine. Woah, that guy just ran across the street in front of my car! Crazy runner!

I find a too good to be true parking spot and head over to the registration area. There are a lot of people here. I find the bathrooms, get my timing chip and walk around and stretch and just generally wait for the race to start.

Finally, it's time to go. After standing at the starting line for what seems to be an eternity they blow the air horn. I start out at a decent pace and predictably people are passing me, I don't even notice if I am passing other people, I'm just concentrating on keeping going and on my pace.

We turn the first corner, and I think about how cool it is to be running on these closed off roads in the town that I grew up in. There is a slight hill down and then another slight hill up as we turn the corner to cross the bridge over the canal. We head down along the canal and I can hear the guy with the bullhorn giving splits for the first mile... 8:32! 8:35! I can't see him so I know he's probably a little ways off from where I am, but I'm feeling good about my pace.

I finally get to the one mile point slightly after 11:00, which is consistent with my one mile time in the Glen Iris and also on Thursday night when Cammie and I were out for a normal run. I feel good about my time and am confident that I will be able to beat my personal goal of beating my time from the Glen Iris.

And then it got hot. There was no shade and the sun was beating down on us. I was happy that I had worn my technical running gear and not anything cotton. I run for a good long time to the turn around and can see all of the people that are ahead of me, but it's ok. I pass a couple of people who have stopped running and just keep going.

Finally, we reach the turn around. I welcome a slight breeze in my face that I didn't feel before and keep going. I pass more people who have stopped running and keep going. Finally I can see the bridge we crossed in the distance and focus on that. I know that once I get to that one I'll be able to see the next bridge which is really close to the finish line.

Before I know it, I'm under the second bridge and I can see the finish line. I feel good and finish much stronger than I did at the Glen Iris. I can't see the time until I am right at the finish line. First I see a 3 and then an 8 and then a 0... WOO HOO I beat my time at the Glen Iris! My official finishing time is 38:08, 1:05 faster than at the Glen Iris, with no walking!

All in all, I'm really glad that I did this 5k. Now I need to focus on increasing my mileage so that I'm ready for that 4.4 mile Turkey Trot!