http://www.mapmyrun.com/view_route?r=e5a63fe59c6a8bba164269f2fec8e280&show_elevation_panel=1&rs=undefined
The day prior to the race, I did a good job of keeping myself distracted as to not think to much about the race. Working on a crossword, shopping for new running shoes and DVD's and texting are always good distractions for me. With some help, I have been focusing on taking this comeback one race and at time and focusing more on where I am at now as a runner not where I was before all my injuries and issues. My goal for saturday was to beat last year's time (granted I raced awful last year) and break 18:00 on the slow course. I also wanted to work on keeping mentally focused throughout the entire race, something that I have been lacking. That morning I warmed up on my own and listened to a playlist on my ipod to keep me relaxed. I was not trying to be anti-social but I really needed to focus on what I needed to do. To be honest I am not sure of any splits throughout the race. I felt strong through the first 1.5 miles leading to the bottom of the hill. As bad as I thought the hill kicked my ass, nobody passed me up the hill and nobody caught me on the way down. I had one mental lapse from about 2.5-2.75 as I got into my head and some doubts creeped in there. At that point, I remembered "Relax and Enjoy" and I felt a bit of surge over the last section of the course. I finished with 17:54 and an 8th place finish out 441 runners. I was also the top master runner. The time was 21 seconds faster than last year.
While not a spectacular 5k time, it was definitely a step in the right direction for me in so many ways, maybe more so mentally. My next race is the Bucknell Summer Fun Run on July 17th. That should be an interesting race as I may get to race against some of the runners from my current team I coach. I have a goal in mind for that course but I will hold off publishing that until I see how workouts go and definitely need to add more HILLS!!!!