Badassery

Five out of six of us ran a race this past Saturday. We got there later than I wanted to because what else is new? I said I wanted to leave a particular time and Vader sat in front of the computer. I wound up having to wrestle Lightrunner to get him dressed and we ran out the door 10 minutes later than I wanted. We live very close but I like to have time to park and get our bibs. Chewie's sprint was first so she and I got out of the car before Vader parked and ran to get her bib. We got to the starting line just in time and she ran her 200 meters. As she said she "didn't come in first" but she smiled an awful lot.

Next SkyWalker and the Princess had their 1 mile run. Vader ran with the Princess and SkyWalker ran ahead. He said he had to stop and walk but then the Princess's friend ran past him and that motivated him again so he started back up. He finished in 10:16 which really isn't bad for a lazy kid. Vader and the Princess came in after him at 12:05. They all enjoyed it.

It turned out to be a great day, not cloudy or raining at all. The sun was nice, the temperature was nice and it was an overall beautiful day. When the kids finished their race they had to leave for Chewie's first soccer practice so I was on my own for the 5K. Luckily I had a gazillion friends running it.

Last year when I ran this race I was shooting for the 28 minute range and I finished in 28:26 and I was pretty happy because I felt like I had given it my all. I ran hard and did the best I could do. This year I was aiming for 28:00 again and finished in 28:32. I did not run really hard and did not give it my all and I am still pretty happy. I'll be honest when I saw the clock I thought "really? again?". But this wasn't my goal race, I didn't want to go all out and really when I think about it I did exactly what I set out to do.

First race with the Bia. Slightly off but nothing to complain about.

I wanted to use this race to see where I am right now and what else I have to do in the next 2 weeks before my goal race. The entire time I was running I was breathing fine, I was feeling fine, and I could see my friends just up ahead. My mile splits were 9:14, 9:16 and 9:17. I kind of did the tempo run I've been trying to do for months. I was definitely not running at 100% and I'm actually pretty happy that I ran so consistently because I usually don't. 

Wearing my Strong Running Mama shirt.
So grateful for friends taking pictures!

The last tenth of a mile I ran really REALLY strong. I actually wound up passing the friends I was following. I could hear people yelling my name which was really nice and is one of the many benefits to running a race in your own community. I was completely focused though because I wanted to come in as strong as possible. I was totally excited that I had that final kick because I haven't had in a while. If I had started it just a bit sooner I could have finished closer to 28. 

Because I love to laugh at myself. Belly.

I am pretty confident that if I could do a sandy trail run at 80% effort and come close to my goal that I can do what I want to do for my next race. And then maybe actually earn the "Badassery" label from Bia!