Close, but no cigar...........................

I was about six seconds off a 5K PR for yesterday's race, completing it in 30:39.

I did my official warm ups and stretches prior to the start of the race, then waiting for those last ten minutes to tick off started chatting with another woman. After a bit she says, "why is everyone over here to the side? Doesn't the race start where it says START?" One would think so, but it turns out that sign must have been for the kids, as when I looked at my watch it was one minute until race time. That is what happens when the microphone system is working as well as it could be.

Feeling confident I lined up with the ten minute pack, and in about three more minutes we were off. After only one (laugh provoking) comment in response to an overheard comment I managed to focus on the job at hand and ignore the crowd.

The course went out of a huge parking lot, down to a side road and then down that road a ways looped back up the same road to reverse the route. I was proud that I made it almost all the way to the first mile marker before the winners were looping back past me.

At the turn around point they were handing out those plastic Lai (No! It didn't have an Hawaiian theme, they just were), so I ask for a purple one to accent my green and white running top, and headed back from where I had come.

Close to the two mile marker I couldn't shut up anymore. When I would see an especially tired looking face I would encourage them to "keep going! They are giving out presents at the turn around."

At two miles I was well on track to beat my PR of 30:30, but once I started talking seems I couldn't stop so I slipped back into my habit of thanking the volunteers and shouting encouragement to people that looked like they needed it. The fact that the last fifty or so yards to the finish were a (very) slight uphill that felt much more like a full hill was my final undoing. Just before the finish the guy in front of me began to slow to a walk so I yelled out for him to keep going and give me something to catch. He glanced back over his shoulder to see who had said that, saw me, and was off like a light. While I might like to think he thought me a threat, it is much more likely that he thought," there is no way I am going to let someone that slow pass me." Regardless, it pushed him into a photo-flash finish. Let's just leave it at I didn't catch him as was the original plan.

Should I be sad, or more angry at myself because I didn't finish with a faster time? Some people might think so, but that is not what my running is about. Running has been a way for me to show self-love and commitment. I am proud that I participated and had the experience. I am pleased with my time. And like I told a lady that was expressing disappointment in the fact that she had ended up walking more than she had planned to, "That's what the next race can be for. This race was for doing as good as you did today."

Should I be focusing more on speed work? Probably, since I really haven't been doing any. But again, my primary goal for running is not to get faster. My goal is to be out there and if I waste nine seconds letting others know I value their participation, and offering encouragement, it is time well wasted for my mental and spiritual well-being. It's interactions like those that will get me out to the next race, the next training run, not the drive to push myself against the clock.

Don't get me wrong. I was running my fastest, running my little heart out if you will. I did my best, and will always give my best. Who knows what that might mean next race?