Decided to run the Leprechaun Lope 5K; the forecast was for rain/sleet & 18 mph wind, but . . . instead the start had very dark clouds with no rain, and no wind. Sweet!! I did not want to run in the wind!! I ran about a mile to warm up and then stretched a bit before the race. It was a hilly course, and began by going uphill (5-6%) by the Capital building, then a long mild uphill grade, then a bigger longer uphill section, then the turn around and the rest was all downhill into Memory Grove. I ran the first hill somewhat slow, then tried to hold a good 2-1 breathing pattern for the rest of the run. I started in the middle of the pack, and passed quite a few people. It was fun because several of the girls running had green tutus, colorful green leggings, etc., and I got a kick out of passing them! There was one girl in a green tutu I was trying to catch for the last mile; I finally gained on her and passed her about 100 feet from the finish line, but then she must've been offended because she kicked in and passed me about 10 feet from the finish. oooh! But, I'm 55 and she looked to be about 25, so what can I say? I'm glad I was finally able to pass her, though, even if I didn't stay ahead of her! (My legs were extremely wobbly the last 50 feet of the race - I was somewhat worried that if I tried to go faster at that point I might fall!) Anyhow, I had fun running and think I did a good job considering I haven't trained for long and last week's running schedule was sporadic to say the least. I also think I would much prefer a flat course to a hilly course!!! Oh, and my unofficial "watch time" was 27 min 27 sec - YEA! - except I later heard someone with a garmin commenting that the course was short and just shy of 3 miles. Bummer! But some runners next to me said I should be happy with my time and not worry about it. :) I initially planned on running more after the race (it's my long run day), but it was chilly and I was sweaty and the wind was starting to pick up so I came home and ran 5 miles on my treadmill: 1 mile @ 5 mph, 3 miles @ 5.5 mph, 1 mile @ 5 mph, followed by some good stretching. Lotsa big heavy snowflakes coming down now! UPDATE: several people commented on the active.com site that they thought the race was way short, possibly 2.82 or 2.86! So no PR, but I wasn't really expecting one at this level in my "retraining". Still had a lot of fun, and am happy with how I ran!
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