CASA Superhero Run 2013

Sorry in advance that this is going to be wordy! I'm just so excited. (and excuse the exclamation mark abuse. It's inevitable.)

Today (well, yesterday now, because I hadn't finished this recap, heh) was the inaugural edition of the CASA Superhero 5k. When I first heard of it, I knew I wanted to do it. I've been looking to do a 5k to see where I am speed-wise now compared to March 2011, the last time I ran a 5k. However, I was a lame-o and didn't really wear a costume. I wanted to make something original (like an official Ms. Whirlwind costume) but I ran out of time so I went as an Anonymous Runner.

Of course, me being me, I didn't register until right before the race. The benefits of a small community race :)

My mom met me there so she could watch Julie while I raced my little heart out. I asked her to try to get some pictures during the race, but she had a photo taking malfunction when I was finishing. I told my mom it was okay that she didn't get any pictures of me finishing because I was too fast anyway. *wink*

And we're off! (I'm in the blue shirt and blue Vibrams)

I set my Garmin's virtual partner the night before for my optimistic pace goal. I really really wanted to beat my best time of 24:14. That was a 7:47 min/mi pace, so I set it for 7:46. I wasn't sure how feasible it was, since I've been inconsistent with training and I ran a two mile race in August where I could only maintain a 8:10 min/mi pace (and probably couldn't have held it a third mile).

Finally race time! We were to self-seed, but I think I sorted myself a little too far back.

There were no mile markers on the course, but a lot of motivational signs. (I didn't take any pictures because I left my phone with my mom, and I was racing, darn it!)

Mile one, I focused on getting into my pace groove. I kept glancing down at my Garmin to check how I was doing against my virtual partner, and was surprised to see that after I freed myself from the starting congestion, I was a few seconds ahead of goal pace and feeling pretty good! Except for my toes being a little chilly, my body felt revved up and ready to go.

Mile two, I focused on getting ahead of the guy dressed like a hot dog in front of me (he ended up winning a prize for the most creative costume!) I was still maintaining a pace about ten seconds faster than my virtual partner!

During mile three, I passed two Clark Kents (who ended up stripping off their shirts and whipping off their glasses when they crossed the finish line, heh) and increased my lead on my virtual partner to about 20 seconds. By this time, I was super focused and working really hard. When I came onto the Sundial Bridge again for the finish, I was having some crazy tunnel vision going on and although I was looking around for my mom and Julianna, all I could see was the clock saying 23:xx. I put on a final burst of speed and crossed the timing mat.

Oh my goodness, I PRed!! My reach wasn't such a reach after all! Final chip time was 23:59.2.

Not only did I PR, I also placed in my age group for the very first time ever ever!! I was 19th overall, and second woman for the 20-29 age group (number one beat me by three minutes and she was first female overall-seriously impressing me).

See my medal?!

Jules wants to eat it.

Yay!

Overall, very fun race and for a great cause. They had a free photo booth there, which my mom, Julie, and I used, but the pictures were so bad I think I would be grounded by my mom if I posted them online.

Definitely feeling a bit sore today, but so, so proud of my new PR. Now I have a realistic view of what I should shoot for in terms of my half-marathon goal!