Freihofers!

So...Freihofers! Yay! Dr. Z and I set the alarm for 5:30 in the damn morning. (Which, WHY do we need to start a 5K at 9:15 in the damn morning, FREIHOFERS?) Dr. Z was kind enough to drive so I could rest on the way there.

We arrived at 8:30, which was just enough time to get my chip and number, use the bathroom, and warmup. Then it was off to the pens for the start. Expecting a 25:00 finish (or hopefully a bit under), I placed myself between the 25:00 - 27:30 and 21:40-25:00 groups.

When the gun went off I quickly realized that a lot of people were, shall we say, OPTIMISTIC about their finish times and/or pace. I got stuck behind countless women going at 9:00 or so and spent the first mile trying to get with the other 8:00 pace runners.

Unfortunately I spent so much energy weaving my way through the crowd that by the time it opened up I didn't have the cardio to speed up and make up lost time. My final time was 25:39, which was 40 seconds off what I wanted, but not bad considering it was my first race and I'd been laid up for almost a month with my shin splints. Surprisingly enough, although my time was worse than I thought it was, I placed better than I though - top 15% exactly. As Dr. Z said, "2800 women had to line up behind you."

So, not bad at all. And this week I've been able to ease back into a regular running schedule. I haven't even had to ice! Tonight we start getting ready for Sunday's canoe race after a long hiatus. Hope my arm and back muscles can handle it!