Complacency

I'll be the first to admit that I don't push myself enough most days. I enjoy the back of the pack. We're relaxed and frankly have a ridiculous amount of fun back there. And I actually don't mind running 10...11...12 minute miles. Yes, I've been a bit complacent in my position in the pack.

But every once in a while, I'll get a fire in me to just throw really throw it all out there and see what happens.

Recently I was thrilled to have run an 8:29 mile on the track. I haven't run that fast since high school (although I've got more than a minute to shave off before I get to my high school track days). My fastest miles of the year have been done during speed workouts on the track and usually end up in the mid-8:50's range. Finally being able to push out a sub-9 mile is something that excites me greatly. And up until this weekend, I could probably could count all of my sub-9 miles since high school on two hands...okay...probably more like one hand.

So anyways...

Sunday I had the chance to run the Hot Chocolate 5k in place of a friend who ended up having to work (Thanks, Shannon!). The Chief of Pain cleared me to actually go out and race...

...wait...let me correct that.

He cleared me to run 5 miles to the race. Race the race. Then run 5 miles back home. Apparently he thinks I'm Dean Karnazes in the works (minus the ridiculous distances). He's sorely mistaken.

I knew I wanted to try and PR...and frankly, I didn't think I'd have it in me to set a PR in the middle of a mid-length run. We agreed that I could take the train up there, run around a bit to warm up, race...and then head home on foot.

Fine by me.

My legs have felt trashed and lifeless for a while now. I wasn't expecting much of a PR, if I'd even be able to set one at all. So the night before I loaded up on the worlds most delicious sugar cookies and candy and all sorts of stuff you probably shouldn't eat if you want to run a personal best the next day. I figured it didn't matter, since the likelihood of me breaking my 28:40 PR was slim as it was anyway.

The next morning I meet up with my buddy, get Shannon's bib and get settled into the corral. I lined up around the 9 minute mile group, thinking I'd go out fast, grab onto the heels of someone keeping that pace and then hang on for dear life for as long as I could or 3.1 miles...whichever came first.

First big snafu? Trying to fit 4200 runners on a 10 ft. wide running path is a really stupid idea. Especially when people are completely incapable of seeding themselves correctly. I crossed the start line in under a minute and saw folks who were already walking a quarter mile into the race. Lovely.

With all the weaving going on, the first mile came and went by in 8:59...miraculously on target.

Things started to clear up slightly after the water stop, though there were still droves and droves of people everywhere.

I looked behind me at mile 2 (done in 8:48, no less!) to see that the crowds were actually thicker behind me than in front of me. Am I toward the front of the pack? WTF is going on here? I just don't understand...

That last mile was an interesting one, it wasn't so much a hanging on for dear life feeling as it was more of a this is finally starting to feel comfortable. An extended version of New Order's 'Blue Monday' had pulled me through mile 2 at pretty quick clip for myself...so I played the song again. Mile three came and went in 8:38.

Official finishing time? 27:15.

That's an 8:47 pace in case you're wondering and nowhere near what I was expecting. I figured if I set a PR, it would've been by a seconds...not by more than a minute. That's 1:25 faster than before. Done on dead legs. With a lot of traffic. And a tummy full of sugar cookies.

Good times.

Overall: 711/4473 (top 16%)
Age Group: 69/648 (top 11%)

That's hardly complacency in the back of the pack (and I've shaved off more than 10 minutes from my 5k time in the past 4 years). I think I need to re-evaluate this whole pre-race nutrition plan for Ironman. Who needs pasta and chicken?

Pass me a plate of sugar cookies, please!