I was about to start talking about how my 2 month accidental racing hiatus seemed so unimaginably long, and how I never want that again, and I need to race all the time. Then I was like “Whoa, self. That’s a little overdramatic. And weird. You’ve been at theatre camp for too long.” And then I also thought about how weird it is that I even like racing at all. I guess maybe one day I will be done feeling surprised by the fact that I maybe actually enjoy running. Until then, I like surprises 😉

Anyway, Tali and I arrived super early, only to discover it was a super small race, and we probably could have slept in more. Also, it was raining. A lot. We were both pretty stoked though, so we got our bibs, stopped at the Starbucks, and checked out the stands at the pre-race expo. Also, we took lots of pictures in the car while we hid out from the rain.

The Be The One Run raises money for bone marrow transplants. There were a lot of people there obviously running for someone they knew, which always makes me emotional a little bit. One guy had a shirt that said “Mom :)” and I thought it was so sweet. I love being at races that are for a good cause, and seeing the people running for friends and family.

Just before we started, we met up with Liane and Karisa, gave them our swag bags, and headed out to the start. I couldn’t believe how close to the starting line I was. I was a little worried that I was about to get trampled by speed demons, but I weaved through a few people, then quickly found my own space, where I was definitely going out too fast. I lost Tali pretty quickly, but kept her in close sight throughout the first mile, which I ran probably too fast in 8:20. Then I positive split crap out of the rest of the race. That’s how you’re supposed to do it right? I ran mile 2 in 8:40. I had high hopes of averaging around 8:30 for the race, but after mile 2, I just got more and more tired. The last mile seemed like an eternity, and I just wanted to be done.

I ended up finishing in 27:16 according to Garmi, 27:14 official time.

8:40 pace. PR. Exciting right?

Umm, let me just tell you that Tali finished her first ever 5k, after only really running with me for like 3 weeks, in 25:33, and placed 3rd in our division!! What??? Girl is crazy! I finished 7th out of 35, which is actually great for me, and I PRed, and 8:40 is speedy for me, but I have this head problem where I only see how I want to do better. I ended the race feeling more frustrated than proud, and that is stupid. In the end, a PR is a PR, and I had a good race, and I will break 27 minutes soon.

Super proud of Tali, and tons of congrats to her for running such an awesome race!!!