First Race of the Year!

About a month ago one of my good friends, Mary Leigh, signed up for the Alston + Bird Corporate Cup 5k and I volunteered to pace her. At the time I didn't give a second thought to my ability to pace her for the sub 30 minute goal. Little did I know that running for two would slow down my “easy” pace to the point where I was worried about my own ability to run that fast! As much as I still love running, it is a lot different and much harder than it used to be. Finding the drive to get myself out the door has been a huge challenge the last month, but fortunately this past week seems to have been a turning point. I ran 15 miles this week (including the 5k) and felt better than I have the entire year. I am very thankful to have my energy back, and hopefully I can get my running worked into a normal schedule from now on. So, the fun part, the race:

Friday night before the race Mike and Mary Leigh came over for dinner to carb load with some delicious gnocchi from Pasta Provisions and bread rolls with honey. We followed dinner by watching the highly motivational episode from The Office: “Michael Scott’s Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race For the Cure;” I figured we could use a few pointers before our race the next day! After that educational viewing we decided to turn in early. What seemed like just a few hours later, my alarm clock was sounding the alarm that race day was upon us. I had forgotten how much I LOVE race day. There is something amazing about hundreds of people that are complete strangers all coming together for the purpose of running. Most of them are not there to win, some of them (Mike) haven’t even trained, they just want to be a part of something that they know will benefit their health (or allow them to eat an extra piece of cake later), and I just think that is so cool.

Mike, Mary Leigh, myself, and Jason before the start!

Before we knew it we were standing in the starting coral ready to go. The gun went off … and we stood there. Another thing I forgot is that when you are not on the front line of the race at the start, it’s really not that exciting when the gun fires. It took us almost 50 seconds to actually cross the starting line and officially begin our race, thanks goodness for timing chips! The first half mile was utter chaos. Hundreds of people were jostling all around us trying to find a comfortable pace for the next few miles, but fortunately the four of us were able to stay together. It turns out that Mary Leigh is a bit claustrophobic so Mike, Jason, and I formed as much of a barricade around her as possible and fought our way down Tryon St until we finally had some breathing room near the half mile mark. From there on it was smooth sailing! Mary Leigh and I ran out front with Mike and Jason right behind us, and I had an eye on my trusty Garmin the whole way to make sure we maintained at least a 9:25 average mile pace. I really can’t take much credit for Mary Leigh’s time in this race. After the first half mile she dictated our speed the whole way, and I never had to tell her to speed up. Surprisingly, I told her to slow down a few times when I knew we had a hill coming or just thought it best to conserve energy in the early parts of the race.

At the 2 mile mark there was a water station and I almost started laughing. I know it sounds silly, but before the race I had discussed with Mary Leigh the “right” way to approach a water stop during a race, yes there is a “right” way. She very politely listened and nodded at the time, but I had a feeling she was laughing on the inside thinking this was just overkill on my part to prep her for this, but sure enough there was the water station! She made eye contact with the volunteer so they knew she was going for their cup, smoothly grabbed it without spilling, crushed the top part a bit to make a spout, and downed some much needed water. Then with a beautiful arc of a toss, got the empty cup as close to the trash can as possible without hitting other runners in the process … I was so proud! Ok, enough gushing about water cups, back to the race. We had a mile to go, and most of it was up hill. Our average pace was 9:18 so I knew we were looking good for sub 30 minutes if we just held steady and maintained. Soon we were all rounding the final corner of the race course and could see the finish line just 50 meters away. I encouraged the group to speed up and Mary Leigh said she didn’t have anything left, but then Mike started looking like he was going to pass her; and that was all it took. It was as though there was a fire under her feet and she took off! I was actually worried about my ability to keep up at that point, remember, running for two here. We all approached the finish line together, and at that moment I probably looked like the biggest jerk in the world. I wanted Mary Leigh to finish first, so behind her back I grabbed on to Mike’s arm with one hand, and grabbed Jason’s arm with the other to pull them back and make sure she crossed first. She did, and the three of us followed immediately behind her. Final time: 28:50!

It was such a wonderful feeling to have run a race with friends and meet our goal. We celebrated by heading to Brueger’s Bagel for second breakfast and enjoyed some nice hot beverages. I am looking forward to more races like this one during the next few months. Next up: Austin 10 miler on April 15^th with Christine and Andrew Tilt!