I need a Hy-5.

It had been almost 9 months since I ran my last 5k. And in that nine months there wasn't a whole lot of running period. Walking, yes, but running--not so much. But I thought it was about time to try my hand (or feet, rather) at another. Melissa and Jake were on board with me.

On Monday Melissa and I ran our old route for the first time in ages. I thought it would be a good idea to take a test run on something other than a treadmill before the actual race. Suffice it to say, I thought I was going to die. Seriously. I made it the whole way, but just barely. And, for the last little stretch, I was muttering "Come on. Come on." under my labored breath. It's not like I was just sitting around this whole winter...since January, I have consistently exercised 5 times a week! But out on the road...all that effort just didn't translate well. At all.

But I was already registered, so there was nothing else to do but show up Saturday morning. And pray I wouldn't look like a complete idiot.

not looking good so far in the idiot department...

And so the race started off well. We had beautiful weather, a nice course, and good company. And much to my surprise, as we passed the 1 mile point, the timer guy yelled out 10:17! Are you kidding me? A ten minute mile? Hey, that is pretty good--better than the treadmill even! And then at the 2 mile mark, it was 20-something. Wow, I'm even keeping my pace here. Not bad. During mile 3, Melissa and Jake were itching to pull away and I gave them my blessing. I was on my own at that point, with the National Anthem (what?) in my head, starting to feel the burn. I kept telling myself that I had done it before, I can do it again. That even though I was dying right then, I would be fine after it was over. Then I heard some guy behind me point out the red light ahead to his friend. That red light was the finish line. The clock ticking off our time. And once I realized that, I had something to look forward to, and I was even able to pick up the pace a little. And I ended up coming in at 31:17, just one minute behind Melissa and two minutes behind Jake. And at a pace of 6 MPH...faster than my usual 5 MPH on the treadmill.

after the race, in all our sweaty glory

It felt good to run the whole race, and to finish in a decent time, at a consistent pace. But you know what this means, don't you? I've gotta step it up on the treadmill, baby!