PR vs ******

I will take the PR every time.  ;)

This morning was the race that I thought about every time I hopped on the treadmill this winter.  It was the race that got me out the door on the occation that I really didn't feel like it.  It was the race that got me through those mile repeats when my legs didn't want to move and I wanted to puke.

The race started at 10:00 am and the date was pushed back a day due to a track conflict.  That gave me an extra rest day.  I woke up early with a bit of anxiety because I knew what the day had in store for me.  The best case senario had me feeling awful and wanting to puke at about 10:23 am.  The worst case had me feeling awful and wanting to puke at around 10:24. 

I arrived and registered at about 9:20 and when I got to the front of the line, the number on top was 276.  My lucky number just happend to be 176 so I knew that it was going to be a good day.  My legs felt fresh and my warm up was awesome.  I did a mile and some striders and arrived at the start line at a perfect 9:58.

I usually line up where I project to finish but for this one, I put myself right up front.  There was a line of kids about 8-10 years old right in front of me.  The good thing was that kids usually haul ass for the first 100 yards or so but the bad is that they typically die quickly.  I didn't have much avoiding to do but there was some.  I wanted to make sure that my start was not too fast or slow.  I did the first quarter in 1:56 which was within a few seconds of what I wanted.  After that I really didn't keep track much because I was kind of focused on tangent lines and picking people off little by little.  I went through the mile in about 7:40 which was perfect but by the time I was at two miles my time seemed to slow a bit. 

Throughout the race, I kept telling myself that I felt good and going a bit faster was not going to kill me.  Mile two is where I usually lose focus but the mantra helped out a lot during that middle mile.  I think that I went through the mile two mark at about 15:30 but for some reason, the math didn't add up and I got a bit discouraged.  Still, I kept my targets in sight and tried to real them in.  As mile three passed by, I started to get the side stitch that is sometimes nuisance and somethimes race ender.  I broke up my breathing a bit and thankfully it went away.  With a half mile to go I looked at my watch again and thought that I would have real trouble breaking 24 minutes.  The math again, was not adding up but I am sure that it was because I was not thinking right.  Anyway, as I rounded one of the last corners with about a quarter to go I still did not know how I stood.  An 8 year old flew by me and I tried to keep up with him.  I think that was just what I needed. 

The finish was on a track and after half a lap, I approached the finish, panting and chugging off toward the finish.  By then I could see that the clock was at about 23:15 and I was getting closer.  I crossed the finish in 23:32 (7:35 pace) which was a 30 second PR and 45 seconds faster than I have finished this course in 4 tries.  I let out a prime-evil scream that sounded really stupid but 5 months of focus just came out at that moment.  I would not blame everyone in the area thinking I was an idiot because quite honestly, I would if I heard some dope do that without knowing the reason.  Anyway, I had to sit down for a minute after the race to recover a bit. 

Afterword,  a woman approached me and had some positive words for me.  That really feels good.  I always down play my accomplishments to people but I really wish that I would have told her some of my story and tell her how hard I have been working.  Maybe next time.

My next big goal is a mile race in June.  My times in the past were 6:33, 6;33 and 6:53 last year.  Not sure what my time goal is yet but I can't wait to start training for it.

Back to the origional question - PR or ******  Both are great but not much tops the feeling I had today at 10:23.32!!!

Well, with a pregnant wife on bed rest was there ever a question? ;)

Congratulations Scott!  You really deserved the PR today with the training that you put in to "score" such a climactic finish!

Cassie