CPCC Skyline 5k Race Recap

April 27, 2010

[caption id="attachment_324" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ashley with PB Running Group "]

[/caption] [caption id="attachment_332" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Can you spot Ashley? "]

[/caption] Two things that don’t mix are late night parties and early morning races. Unless you are me and you have the uncanny ability to party and get work done. I don’t mean to brag, but this highly desirable skill comes quite naturally, and I had four years to perfect it in undergrad. Anyways, I stayed out really late Friday night. Actually I think that I finally hit the sack shortly after 3a.m. As my alarm clock sounded three hours later, I rolled out of bed pumped! I’m usually excited on race day, but I was especially excited because I was running with a group of BGRs from the Purple Butterfly Running Group. This was my first race with them and actually it was my first race running with a group of black women. Not only was it nice to look around and see other brown faces, but also I really enjoyed the camaraderie. The race started off pretty well. However, I made the bad mistake of starting in the back. You would think I would have learned my lesson by now. Unfortunately, I used valuable time running around the slow people the walkers, baby strollers and the bulk of the crowd. So, there was no surprise when I jogged past the one-mile marker right as the clock flashed 10:00. As soon as I passed by the clock, I started to have an “Oh HELL NO “ moment. You know, that feeling where you suddenly reevaluate your situation and immediately take action based off of emotion? Well, that’s how I felt and there was no way I was going to run a 30-minute 5k! I immediately shifted gears and sped through mile two. As I started mile three, I began to fatigue a little, and I kept saying to myself, “I can sleep when I die!” and “Let’s get it!” This is where it gets tricky. When I am running the final mile of a race, I like to build up my pace so that I run at my top speed for the last quarter of a mile. Well, I didn’t bring my ipod, so I had no way of judging distance. Of course I misjudged and started to speed up too soon. As my little legs sprinted, I realized that I was still about three tenths of a mile away from the finish line. Needless to say, I quickly tired out. My final time was 26:29, almost a minute longer than last year. I am not too disappointed, instead I’m seeing it as room for improvement. If running with other BGRs was the highlight of the race, the low point was getting beat by a 10 year-old girl. I ran beside the girl and her father for the last mile, and enjoyed the banter between them as they discussed the race. It was her first one, and obviously she had been training for this day. As the three us raced towards the finish line, I could tell the girl was getting more and more excited. Suddenly, she pulls away and starts sprinting by everyone including her dad who is beaming with pride and yelling, “Run Susie, run!” I’m now staring at her swaying ponytail and tiny body as she sprints across the finish line. I think she beat me by at least thirty seconds. I have to give it to the girl; she ran an amazing race, especially to be so young. Good job kid, you are officially my motivation to run a faster 5k. Anyone else race this weekend? How did you do?