This year, my company sponsored the 5 mile race in the Indianapolis Corporate Challenge. It was pretty cool because they said the "Aprimo 5 Mile" about 100 times over the loud speaker. I felt proud.
It was an early morning - we had to get up around 6:30 to get ready and drive downtown for the race. I had a small cup of coffee, some water, and a granola bar to fuel up. I was pretty tired, but it didn't take too long for a little adrenaline to kick in. We got to the event, I used the restroom, and I had to make my way to the start line...no time for a warm up. I did stretch for about 10 minutes because we were standing there listening to the Mayor and the National Anthem. And soon, we were off. I was going to try to hit 7:30's but I really wanted 7:20's. When I looked at my Garmin and my pace was 6:40 in the first minute or two, I knew I needed to back off. It felt weird letting everyone go ahead of me, but I felt like I would lose it all if I tried to hold 6:40. This ended up being a good decision.
Mile 1 came and went in 7:11. Boom. Confidence booster, now time to back it off further. Mile 2 = 7:18. Sweet. Mile 3 = 7:29. Push it. Mile 4 = 7:22. 1 more to go...Mile 5 = 7:06. :).
In the last mile, I tried to push. I could not see any women, or I think I would have pushed harder. It was successful. Sitting here typing this now, I wish I had another race like it coming up because I think I could go faster. But I have a half marathon on the horizon and I am getting super pumped to see what I can do in that distance.
I loved this race and I am so glad I had the opportunity to run in it. Competition like this is so fun and I am so glad that I started running and training again. I can't wait to see what I can do with my endurance and speed.
Alex was there to support me and when I had about 0.2 miles to go I could hear him cheering for me :). It really did help and I am so lucky that he is willing to get up, take me to the race, and cheer for me :).
On the downside, September was a step back in my training overall. A September Roundup is in the works, so you shall see just how much I stepped back :(...hopefully it does not ruin my training.
On the upside: with a 7:18 average for 5 miles, I may have to readjust my half marathon goal to 7:45's...we'll see!
More to come soon! Run hard!
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