Brickfest 5K

Today is the day. Today is the day I attempted to set a new PR for myself at the Brickfest 5K in Malvern, Arkansas. Here is how it all went down!

Since I ran this race last year, and since Chasen works in the town of Malvern, we are very much 'in the know' about the Brickfest 5K. As such, my friend Kim decided to caravan there with us. We each woke at the crack of dawn so that we could meet at 6:30 AM and head out. We got there pretty quickly (in Chasen's newly-cleaned speed machine!) and headed up to get our registration packets.

Here, Kim and I confer on the course map and changes in elevation that I researched. Her boyfriend Jeremy's daughter, Rachael, looks on. (I am the one in yellow.)

In our registration packets were the traditional Brickfest paperweight, i.e. mini-brick AND a sweatband that says "Brickfest 5K, No Sweat." Ha!

After a we got our numbers pinned on, I decided to do a little bit of warming up. Normally at 5K's I just kind of show up to the starting line and go. But today I really, really had my game face on. So I did a quick "jog" up and down one block. Here I am finishing my slow warmup. I just wanted to get the blood flowing and not strain anything as I did a nice pre-race stretching routine.Here are Kim and I before starting the race. After running the Little Rock Half-Marathon, Kim had non-running-related surgery that sidelined her for 6+ weeks.

We chatted a bit in the starting area, but right before the gun went off I purposely moved away from my friend. I told her "Kim, today I am SERIOUS. Today is the day!" And off we went! I was absolutely thinking of the visualization that Coach Terry prepared for me. I was keeping a nice pace while not getting too far ahead of myself. I monitored the Garmin and made sure to stay right at a 10:00 minute pace. About a half mile into it I noticed that Kim was way ahead of me. Shocked, I looked at my watch. She was really going fast! Per Coach's orders, though, I stuck to my plan; steady running.

He was right; before I knew it the first mile was merely but a memory. I was feeling good. I did the first mile in 9:51. I was pleased with that. It wasn't too fast, yet it gave me a bit of breathing room for the long haul. Once I reached mile 1.5 I was thinking to myself "OK, you're halfway done. KEEP IT UP. You can do it. Today is the day. You ARE speed." I was really feeling that, as well. I knew it in my heart. I was doing exactly what I wanted to be doing out there.

As I came to the 2-mile marker the course person yelled out "19:something" and I was shocked. I was beating a 10:00 minute mile! My Garmin says I did mile 2 in 9:58. Yowsa! I was really doing it! At this point I again went straight back to Coach's visualization: I have run many, many miles before and one more is a piece of cake. I was almost done!!!! I was literally picturing one mile in my mind. It is NOTHING.

Mile 3 was a choppier one. I was sweating, I had a horrible side stitch (which I tried multiple tactics to remove) and I was darn ready to finish this thing! I did take a wee few walking breaks to try to conserve my energy for the final push. I was picking people to try to pass. There were a few contenders: oversized shirt lady, turquoise shirt lady and 7-year-old boy (I'd guess).

As I came around the final turn where I could hear the finish line and knew that my fabulous heat-enduring husband would be waiting for me, I channeled energy from I-don't-know-where. I took off like a shot and ran my little heart out. I wanted to be done so badly I could taste it! I honestly don't know where that last burst of exhilaration came from. It was awfully hot and humid out there and I was drenched. The last screaming of the time had thrown me a bit (I misunderstood in my sweaty, heaving state) so I ran faster than fast! I remembered Coach saying that the timeclock was all for me. The race was all for me! I was going to win the race! So I barrelled down the road as fast as my new Brooks (which did not blister me today!!!!) and my legs and heart would take me. According to the Garmin my fastest pace was 8:37 per mile, and I am certain it had to be during this short period of time. Here I zoom to the finish line! It was probably my fastest finish-line-sprint ever.

I didn't notice the official timeclock. I immediately stopped my Garmin. I had turned it to the opposite side of my wrist during the last mile so that I would not obsess. I looked down at it and realized that I had just set my age 30-34 PR!!!! 31:18!!!! (FYI, my previous PR of 31:08 was set when I was in the 25-29 age group.) I have decided that 31:18 is absolutely my new PR! Y-E-S!!

Once I had my "Hooray for me!" moment, I was directed to keep going straight to - get this - an old El Camino full of water bottles. Ha! I happily took my water bottle and turned to find Chasen. I was elated to be done. Now my focus was watching for Kim to zoom across the finish line. Jeremy and Rachael were doing their best to try to find her. When she rounded the corner I began screaming her name. I am sure everyone around there was annoyed with me, but I didn't care. My friend was doing something great!

There's Kim, in white, finishing right at 35:00! Not bad for having to be absolutely still for over a month!

I screamed so much for her as she crossed the finish line that the second she stopped I went mute before someone threw a water bottle at me! Ha. I "intercepted her" as soon as she got her water bottle from the bed of the El Camino. Here are the "Sweat Sisters" in front of the El Camino. This is a classic!

Next we all walked back to the American Legion building where the registration took place for some post-race snacks. We said our goodbyes to Kim and her bunch. As I was waiting in line for the ladies room, I was approached by a woman who said "Is your name Susan?" I said yes, and she said "I've seen your blog!" Oh my Lord - I was embarrassed all of a sudden. I view the blog as something that allows me to meet people from all over the globe, not from my own backyard! But you know what? It was GREAT. We chatted for quite a while.

Here we are, Annette from Cabot, Arkansas, and I chatting about running and this blog.

It was the neatest thing! She is training for the Chicago Marathon. I said "Oh my friend is doing that!" She said "Oh yes, your friend that you ran the Soldier Field race with." I felt like a celebrity! (Katie, you are a celebrity, too!) Chasen took a photo of us together, but I'll not post it because I didn't ask for her permission to do so. He also took a photo of her as she won 5th place in her age group!

Yes, I made us wait around for the awards presentation since last year I got 5th place in my age group (as it turns out, there were only 5 of us! Ha!) The oldest participant (who cleaned my clock) was an 89-year-old man. WOW. I noticed that all of the older ladies did not look remotely the age for which they were being given awards. Note to self: keep running.

No award for me today; there must have been far more than five 30-34 females! 5th place beat me by a good six minutes. Oh well. That's why running is the best sport out there; you only have to compete with yourself. I love it!

Not that I am home, I can not believe that I ran so fast. Last year, after coming off a foot injury, I ran it in 34:58. So this year I shaved off 3:40! Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me, especially my husband. He has been there every step of the way, always rooting me on. And to Coach Terry - you have turned this slowpoke into a personal PR setter!

So what is next for me? Something big. You'll just have to stay tuned to find out what!