My CVS 5k Experience

WOW! Once again, it has been a while since I've posted anything (Last post: "60 Days Until Newport Half"). It makes me sad. I really have no excuse. I guess sometimes I just don't know exactly what to write. However, it seems that I tend to accumulate things to talk about... then I eventually will decide to write a blog, which means obnoxiously long posts.

So I think I'm going to split it into TWO posts this time! :-o This will be my CVS 5K run report and the next one will be an update on the training that I've been doing..

First off, I'd like to say CONGRATULATIONS to KOB for his amazing 5k time! Good job!!

For the 5k, I joined Team Andera and Friends. Andera is the company that Tyler works for. We had sweet bandanas that we all wore during the race. Bad. Ass.

One thing I wasn't prepared for... 80-something degree weather in September. It had started to get chilly the previous week and I thought this run would be cooler than the other 5k's. I was wrong. When I first headed out for the race, I immediately regretted the decision to wear capri-length running pants. Terrible mistake. It was a beautiful day but goodness gracious! I was hot!! If only I had been wearing shorts...

Also, I didn't realize how many fellow Tang "Clanners" were running in the race. I happened to see Nikki, Andy, and Kevin at the end of the race when we were all just hanging out by the free pizza and bananas. It was great to see them! :-)

I definitely agree with the previous CVS 5k posts... WAY TOO MANY RUNNERS. And it seemed that more than half of them didn't pay attention to where they should be starting the race. There were sections based on bib numbers. I think the pattern was that the smaller the bib number, the more elite the runner and the closer to the starting line they were. It was a huge cluste-f%$#! There was no controlling it. People just weren't paying attention. I passed countless people walking and winded by the first half-mile. It was frustrating having to dodge around the huge crowd and I probably would have done better if people weren't in my way..

Considering the sea of people, I think I started out pretty strong. Tyler and I were helping each other the first part of the way weaving through the crowd. At some point, Tyler took an accelerating dive right into a hole that I quickly got closed out of. But that's okay...I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with him the entire time. I ran on my own for a little while until an Andera teammate, Aura, caught up to me. We have a similar pace so we paced each other for the rest of the race. Even ended with exactly the same chip-time! I think I found my running match. It's pretty cool to meet someone who I can run with at the same pace. She's running in the Newport Marathon (not the half, the whole damn thing). Hopefully we can pace each other for at least half of her run :-P

By the time Aura and I were done fighting through the crowds of people, I realized that we turned the corner to the finish line. The hill. A bitch of a hill. It was way too hot out for this. I am not good with running in heat. Especially when I'm pushing myself to get a better PR. Since moving to MA, I have become more accustomed to hilly routes. A majority of my long runs involve massive hills. The 5k hill shouldn't have bothered me. But the heat did, and by then I just wanted to be done.

Overall, the CVS 5k was a personal success. I created a new PR-- 27:14. That's 38 seconds better than my last PR (Harpoon 5K--27:52). Not too shabby.

There are 2 cons to this 5k that stopped me from getting an even better 5k PR:
1) The insane crowd of runners
2) The decision to wear capri-length pants instead of shorts..

To end on a positive note, I made a freakin' sweet playlist on my iPod for this run (Included AC/DC, Cake, Red Hot Chili Peppers, House of Pain, haha). I'll definitely recycle it for future runs!