Ready to Rock It (is that a ninja??!!....) This weekend I knocked out the first race of 2011!! The first ever Frozen Turkey 5K in Tremont, IL. I finished in 4th place overall with a time of 20:31. It was a really fun race. For the first time in my racing 'career' I actually led the pack for a little bit. I was leading the way for about a quarter of a mile....I have to admit, it was a strange feeling. I thought about how everyone else in the race was following...me. I wondered what would happen if I took a wrong turn....I wondered what would happen if I actually finished first. Then, before I knew it, some speedster zoomed past me and the thrill was gone. I looked at my watch at about the one mile mark and the pace read 5:51....what the heck was I doing?? Then I started to think about finishing in second place....but once again, I was passed by a couple of youngsters. The top 3 were gone and I thought for sure others would be approaching as well. But, I reached the halfway point and turned around to see that there was a pretty good distance between me and the 5th runner. So...I gave it all that I had and finished hard at 20:31.
Yeah....a fourth place finish at 20:31 tells you that there weren't too many runners (around 90) and that there may not have been too many fast runners....but, I am totally good with a PR that is 25 seconds better than my previous PR. And...I still have some time this year to shave 32 seconds off of my 5K time to reach my goal of finishing in under 20 minutes. I was 29 seconds away from getting a trophy too...only the top 3 male and female finishers scored trophies...damn you young bucks. Had I known, I totally wouldn't have let those kids pass me.........Oh well.
I'm pretty pleased with my time, but the best part about this race was seeing the wife come in at 26:18!!! She did an amazing job. Amazing. Her previous 5K time was 33 and some change...mad improvement!!! She totally rocked the Frozen Turkey!
Bringin It Home!!
Some pre-race posing!
