Two by two

Saturday morning, I ran my first road race in quite some time. The first, I believe, since a 10K two Junes ago. This was a 5K here in Tuscaloosa, starting downtown and winding our way around the campus quad and returning.

After three weeks of gorgeous spring weather, there was a threat of severe weather. It rained the night before, and the action was already underway north of us. We were also early to the race. It was an 8 am start, and we thought 7:30. So we drove home to get Ann's watch. Got back in plenty of time, so we were fine. Then my dear, sweet wife tripped and fell right before the race, skinning her knee. So karma wasn't on our side at the beginning. But there were some 900 entrants, and a really positive vibe. The mayor was there too-- it's his race.

I knew I wanted to get in there and mix it up some-- I've usually treated races as training runs. Here, I wanted to see what I could do-- to battle and compete. And I was able to do just that. My first mile was 9:20, the second was 8:40. I liked that I was able to pass a lot of folks-- I've been working hard on my runs and getting in better shape, and it paid off down the stretch. I tried to move over to pass a guy and he accelerated to stay ahead. So I knew it was on. I waited until I turned the final corner and put the hammer down. He covered it and stayed with me for a bit, but a few moments later I looked over and saw I'd pulled safely ahead. It felt great. We were both positive in the finishers' corral, and each thanked the other for the fight-- we both passed several others in the process, so it was good for both of us. My time-- 26:44. I am very pleased with this time-- a new personal record by over a minute!

Now back to that weather thing. The first fat drops of rain fell as I neared the finish, and the skies opened up not long after, with lots of folks still out on the course, including the First Lady. Many finished the race under a thunderstorm warning. I don't want to say it was heavy rain, but I think I saw animals getting on an ark. I am proud of Ann for putting in the time and doing the work and then competing as she did when things were not working in her favor, and for doing something that a lot of folks won't do.

We chose not to wait until the 10 am awards ceremony, and we went back home. I still had eight more miles to go, since I was due an 11-miler today as part of my regular training schedule. So I hit the treadmill and got the job done. 27 miles for the week, including 5 mile repeats Wednesday for speedwork.

I feel great about my running right now, and it's about time for a new training plan and a new goal race, likely a half marathon. And after today, I'm ready.