Sunday 5K

Sunday, I ran in a local 5K. I was a perfect day to run. It was nice, sunny and the temperature was in the 50s.

The first mile I ran pretty well. I kept a good, steady pace on the mixture of hills and flat surfaces. I passed the first mile marker, a full minute faster then what I usually run. I thought I could keep that pace for the entire race. Then it happened, severe stomach cramps. The pain was terrible, my pace slowed but I kept running. The stomach cramps stopped near the end of the second mile. With the pain gone, I started picking up my pace.

While I was running slower with the worst stomach cramps ever, two women passed me. My hope was to catch back up with them, but they were both so far ahead I knew the chances would be slim. Since I couldn't catch the two ahead of me, my motivation was to keep a group of women behind me. After crossing the second mile mark, I could hear them talking. I really didn't know how close they were, but they were close enough that I could hear bits and pieces of their conversation.

Around the 2.5 mile mark, the course took a left hand turn. It was at this time I could turn around and see where they were. While going around the corner, I turned to look back. I didn't see them. It was a relief. I knew that I had some distance on them. With not much more of the race left, I wanted to finish with a good time.

I continued to pick up my pace on the flat surface. The course didn't stay flat for long. The flat course dipped down then up a giant hill. I ran strong up the hill and was excited that I was close to the end. When I made the final turn towards the finish line, I tried so hard to sprint to the finish. My legs had nothing left. I spent all of my energy making up time from the horrible second mile. I crossed the finish line at 32:01.57. I finished sixth in my age group. I thought I beat last year's time, but I was just shy: 31:57.

I didn't beat last year's time but this run made me happy. I was happy because I wasn't last in my age group and I wasn't the last runner on the course. There have been many 5 and 10K races where I was last in both categories. When I do finish last, it doesn't bother me. I'm just happy that I finish every race that I start, no matter where I finish.