WOW - 2nd Overall..... and a New PR!

I really just don't know quite what to say.

Today was just awesome. You have to understand that 1 year ago, the Inaugural Saratoga 5k Fun Run was my very first race since I had run back in high school. To put that into perspective.... I am 38 now. Last year for this race I was 50 lbs heavier and came in dead last. You can see last years results here. You can see more about my running journey here, and my overall journey here, but for now back to the race.

Yes, you read that right.... I came in SECOND OVERALL! It was not a really big race, but it more than doubled from the first year when I think there was a total of 27 runners. Today I think the total runners was somewhere in the 50's, which is not bad considering this is a very hard and hilly course. It really and truly is the hardest course I have run. To give you an idea, here is a shot of the elevation:

I started the race near the front of the pack, and the Chik-Fil-A cow was there and was starting off the pack. I was following him and trying to go around him when he stepped over right in front of me and I ran into him.... that had to be a sight to see! I almost fell over! I ran for the first 1/2 mile with a pack of runners and then started to pull away a bit from them when we got to the first hills. When I was almost to 1 1/2 miles I started to round a corner when one of the course volunteers said "you can catch him"...... What? Him? not Them? I was pleasantly surprised, but I had thought there may only be one in front of me. I ran the rest of the race kinda watching my shoulder to make sure nobody was coming up on me..... It was so much fun! The first place finisher finished in 21:xx and my time was 23:23.

I haven't run a 5k since January because my training turned towards my First Half Marathon. I have only run one 10K during that time as well. One of the cool things is that this race set a new PR for me! 23:23! And that was on a very difficult course to boot! I can't wait to see what I can do on a normal course. I heard a couple people mention that this race was 4 minutes longer than a 5k they ran just the week before. And I think they were in the 20's so that is quite a difference. I don't think it would be that much of a difference for me, but maybe a minute or two.

Here is my splits on my running log: link Robbie said the race results will be up tomorrow, I will update the post when they are posted.

Well, the results are in and my 2nd place stood :) Here is the results from today >> link and some pics as well >> link Hey..... I even got honorable mention on the front page. Thanks Robbie!

Was my first 5k

Kinda misleading title I know. No, I didn't just run my first 5k, but the 5k I am getting ready to run this Saturday was my first 5k last year. This Saturday I plan on running the second annual Saratoga 5k Fun Run.

This race is kinda important to me, and I am really looking forward to it. Last year at this time I had only been running for a short time, just over a month. I had just started to lose weight and finally felt that I could maybe actually run and not just walk. This race last year was my first race. It was a hard course with a lot of hills, and I ended up walking a lot of the hills, but I finished it. It is actually kinda funny, because I came in dead last in this race, not by far, but still dead last.

Last year my time was 36:37, I am hoping that this year I can do a little better :).

I was a bit concerned I was not going to be able to run it this year because of some scheduling conflicts that came about in the last few weeks, but it looks like things have worked out and I will be able to run.