I’m combining two races into one entry as they were only six days apart.  I competed in the 5k at the Prairie Fire Marathon last Sunday.  I was very focused on setting a new personal record for my 5k speed.  I have been relatively close recently.  I am becoming a much stronger runner than I was before the accident.  I’ve been more focused on rehab work, DDP Yoga and building core strength since May which unintentionally helped me get my speeds back.  With better leg and core strength, it will be a matter of time before I can run faster than I have ever ran before.  I tapered my running during the week and felt very fresh the morning of the race.

As soon as the race started, I knew it was going to be tough as my breathing was struggling a bit.  The temperature was around 45 degrees which was the coldest temperature that I’ve ran outside in a very long time.  I haven’t raced at this temperature for over 2 years and I was feeling it.  I would get more comfortable as the race went along, but I knew when I saw the finish line that I was a bit out of reach.  The course was running a little longer than my GPS watch was indicating, but I gave it my best and kicked up the last half mile.  All told, I finished in 21 minutes, 23 seconds.  This was good enough for #19^th overall and #3 in men’s 40-49.  I’ll take it.  I was on the couch last year in funk while feeling sorry for myself for not being in the half marathon.

I ran in the Wichita State University Pumpkin Run 5k just six days later.  I did not taper down my workouts leading up to this race as much as I did the previous week.  I also did quite a bit of swimming during the week as well.  My race preparation was all wrong.  I’ve been working a little harder on my core strength this week which continued into Saturday morning.  I did some DDP yoga before the race as normal, but I also did 100 sit-ups, 100 crunches, 80 pushups and 100 squats.  I overdid it.  I pushed as hard as I could, but I just couldn’t get my pace up to a level where I could get that PR.  My abs started to cramp up on me during the third mile.  I pushed hard until I was within .1 of the finish line and knew that no one could catch me from behind.  My stomach felt like someone kicked it.  So now I know what I won’t do next time.  Check that off as a learning experience.  Despite all of that, I finished in 21:39 which is my 5^th best 5k finish ever.  I’ve come a long way from the couch earlier this year.  That speed was good enough to finish #19^th overall and get a first place win in men’s 40-44. 

I would much rather have ran in the half marathon or even the full marathon than these 5ks.  My body is not ready for that kind of distance, but it has been fun to try to chase this short distance speed instead.  I’ve got to bring home two trophy’s in 6 days which has been a thrill.  The thrill has been a blessing.  I need those wins to keep myself focused on getting better.  I’m thankful that I can compete in these races at a high level.  I am going to keep chasing this personal record until I beat it.  And then I am going to chase that record.  Repeat process.