RUN-IVERSARY 5K

So today I ran the Run the Res 5K which was the first race I entered which means this marks my one year Run-iversary!  I actually started attempting to run back in November of 2012 but I use this race as when I officially became a runner.  A slow runner but a runner none the less.  When I arrived I picked up my BIB, T-Shirt and goodie bag and headed for the starting line.  We were about an hour early so I could warm up and stretch.  Mandy came to support me and take a few photos to use for comparison to last year.

  My legs have been really tight and heavy on the last two runs I have done so I was a little worried.  I got in a nice light slow jog for a quarter to half mile, along with a good stretching session and the legs started to loosen up.  The wind was gusting quite a bit causing us to have a strong head wind for the first mile of the race.  I lined up at the start, which is at the bottom of a small hill, when the gun went off I took off up the hill and tried to settle into a good pace.  The first 2 miles of the course wrap around the water reservoir before coming to a hill.  Last year this hill seemed like a monster to climb, but after what I climbed in southern California this was a piece of cake.  After I crested the hill, I charged down hill to the turnaround to come back.  I was feeling really good at this point.  Again I climbed the hill and blasted down the other side make a push to the finish.  When I hit the last turn to the finish I saw Mandy and gave her my best airplane impression and sprinted across the finish!  Checking the result sheets after the race I posted a finish time of 25:54 @ 8:21 per mile average!!!! Which basically means I CRUSHED IT!

 

Here are my splits from my watch.

    So for a little comparison of my times here is my current 5K PR

28:02 @ 9:01 per mile avg

I knocked a little over 2 minutes off my overall time

Here is my time from this race one year ago

33:27 @ 10:46 per mile avg

I knocked between 7 and 8 minutes off my overall time

 Last year I weighed in at 259 lbs and this year I was 198.5 lbs 

Obviously my weight had a lot to do with my speed increase, but I have put in a lot of hard work getting ready for Ragnar and the Glass City Half Marathon and it defiantly paid of today!

Here are a few more pictures from the event

I even beat the guy with the crazy pants!!