Daisy 5k: Boy Chase Girl

So today was the Austin Runners Club (ARC) Daisy 5k here in Austin. I guess this is typically done around Mothers Day, but it was moved back as part of a Sprint Series (which I will not be doing...5k is a full on sprint to me!). It started near Progress Coffee, and near the new Rogue Equipment store here in Austin. The race went off at 8:00 am, and upon 'Map My Run'-ing it, I found it is only 3 miles from our house and 2 miles are on the trail. So since I would never do a 3-mile warmup for a 5k on purpose, I figured what a great way to force myself to!

I was up at about 6:00, had some toast and coffee (since I would be running 9+ miles for the day). I left my house around 7:00 and boy did my legs feel heavy! As in, 'just got off the bike' heavy. No spring what-so-ever. Hmm, this could be interesting. But it was a pleasant early morning run so I took it for what it was, enjoyed the long warmup and arrived at about 7:30.

This was a pretty low-key race, though they did get 700 participants. A perfect morning! Well for me could have been about 20 degrees cooler, but it was still pleasant. I talked to Carmen Troncoso before-hand, Carmen is 48-years old, about 95 pounds and a badass. I believe she is coming off of a pretty long lay-off from injuries, but is getting back to form so I knew that she'd give me a run for my money. Literally...there was $200 for the first across the line, however the women went 3 minutes before the boys. And of course, we heard that there were 2 guys from UT (U of Texas) who had shown up. Go figure, when they put up money, people show! That was OK, though, I'd just have to run like someone was chasin' me from the gun...because, in fact, they were. :)

We started and Carmen was a bit ahead of me for the first mile. I felt decent though it was tough, we rolled through mile 1 in just under 5:20. Wow! Keep on this. (yeeaahhh....) I passed her just after that, though she was running great, and told myself to keep it under control. This was max speed for me. Much to my surprise, I hit mile 2 in 10:38...WOW! I do not think I have EVER come through 2-miles in this time, averaging 5:19 pace. I began some calculating but at this point was tiring and realized this could be a PR! However, something happened between 2 and 3. I think that that mile was long. Just kidding...actually most likely a) I tired a bit and b) we were going uphill, though it was hard to tell. I saw the finish and it was quiet, so I figured I was doing OK, not necessarily 'had it in the bag' but wanted to keep this pace and finish strong. I decided to do a quick 'check ' over my shoulder with about 50 meters go to....DAMN....he is too big to be Carmen. The boy(s) had caught me. Actually, just one guy. I dropped the bomb and we sprinted for that $200, but he out-toed me (or in Laura Reid's terms, he out-nosed me)...by 2/10th's of a second!! Gotta be kidding me. But a race is a race and it was a hell of an exciting finish. Just wish my feet were a bit bigger...isn't size 9.5 big enough?

All in all a great race put on by Muna Mitchell!! Thanks Muna and all involved, we even got a daisy at the end which I loved because, well, this is the flower of my wedding! I just love daisies. I jogged home and actually felt better as I went, which goes to show me that I still think that I have good speed right now just not necessarily a lot of flat out, top end speed. I hit up a great yoga class at 11:45 and called it a day!

...Actually, it is South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin and living in the hub of it all, decided I should go check out the scene. I was out for about 2 hours, heard some good bands and I am freaking tired. I am back home and it is not even 6:00 yet. How pathetic am I? I may get a second wind, or I may end up sitting on my porch, drinking some beer and watching a movie with my cat Shackleton. But, I am ok with that. :) Thanks for reading!!