Weekend Rewind

I had a much needed quiet weekend. Dan was out of town for work, and so it was just me and the bassets. With a hectic weekend ahead of me with travel and my brother's wedding, and being stressed out all week about my dog's ongoing ailments, I just wanted to relax this weekend. I did not make a single plan other than the 5k on Saturday and a long run with a friend on Sunday. I picked up two new books on the way home from work Friday, and when I wasn't running this weekend I was reading, relaxing and playing Words with Friends on my phone (I'm addicted).

 Saturday was a 5k. The race didn't start until 8 am, so I actually got to 'sleep in' until 5:45 am on a Saturday...a whole hour later than usual! The weather is back to being crappy in Austin, and so it was a humid, muggy morning to race. I warmed up for just under 3 miles and felt okay. Tried to scope out some of my competition to see if there were any ringers who showed up to battle it out for the $100 cash prize. This was only the 2nd year for the race, and the first year they offered money, so they only ended up with about 200 runners. Just fine with me! I actually ran into another guy from Georgetown (Felix), and I knew if I could stay with him, then I would have a good race.

The course was an out and back. I love out and backs because it allows me to see my positioning at the turn-around. The race was offering money for the fastest finisher to break the respective men's and women's course records, which was 24:23 for the women and 19:35 for the men. I know I could break the women's record, it would just be a matter of whether I was the fastest woman to do so.

The gun went off at 8 am. One young guy - I deemed him a ringer the moment he stepped out of his car - took off and was unopposed throughout the race. Needless to say he broke the men's record. I started off with the guy I knew from Georgetown and would stay with him until he outkicked me the last 200 yards. There were a few guys who took off too fast, but faded after about a mile.There was a girl who stayed with me the first 1/2 mile before dropping back. I wasn't sure how far back she was, but was relieved to see at the turn-around that she wasn't close enough to catch me. We were averaging 6:17 pace at the turnout (1.55 miles in). I was still feeling good at this point so decided to see if I could hold pace and break the men's record and come away with a PR. I will still running side by side with Felix, and just willed myself to stay with him. We actually negative split the race (first time I have ever done that is a 5k). I was shocked to cross the line in 19:22, good for a 6:14 pace and a PR...and $100! Felix finished right in front of me to capture 2nd place, and I was behind him in third.

I actually seriously thought about donating the money back to the race. It would have been the nice thing to do. But, I actually kind of need it right now. With escalating vet bills, I ended up just depositing into my bank account. It *almost* covered Flash's vet bill from Friday. As much as I dislike 5k's, I'm really glad I decided to run the race. It was very well-organized and all of the race officials and volunteers were so nice and encouraging.

Sunday's plan was to meet Mick at 5:45 am for 20 miles. It was super humid again. Bleh. This was a run where I was really happy to have company. I am pretty sure I could have cut it short and 100% sure I would have been much slower on my own. We ended up with 21 miles at a 7:51 pace. I was cooked by the end of the run and spent the rest of the day on the couch.

This left me with a weekly mileage of 58.52 miles, 3 swims and 2 shorter spin sessions on my bike trainer. This week will be somewhat of a question mark in training later in the week as I head to Virginia Thursday after run group for my brother's wedding. I am hoping to get in some runs there (and enjoy some cooler temps), but I am not sure how much time I will have with everyone's plans for me (although I tell them I will be a much nicer person if I get my runs in. True story).

I hope everyone has a great week!