Come Run in the Sun. The Good,Bad, and the Ugly.

I'm writing this post quick, fast, and in a hurry.  I don't want to think about this race any longer than I have to.

So, where do I begin? I try to be positive, because I love to run. I also love to race. The race I ran a few days ago was a bust.......Big Time. Is it the end of the world? No. Will I recover?, Yes. OK. On with the post.

Come Run in the Sun is a 10k that I am quite fond of. It's a tough out and back course that I have run twice before with great success. In 2008 I won the race.

Lean and Mean 2008- 43:51. I love my electric blue Mizuno racing flats.

In 2009 I ran the race again, and I have pictures to prove that this is a tough course. I came in 2nd in 2009 with a time of 45:25.

 I didn't run this race in 2010. I just found out I was pregnant so, I didn't want to race.  In 2011 I was still unpacking boxes and dealing with a 4 month old that was way more fun than running up a hill.

This year I thought that this would be another test of my fitness. Plus, (I feel like a dick face for admitting this) but, I thought this would be any easy race where I could place in the top three overall (women's runners) 10k  race.  I ran a 10k in February in  47:10. Since then I have been enjoying my workouts, my schedule is getting easier and  I feel, as though I have been getting faster.  I ran a great half in April and I ran a decent 5k at the beginning of the month.

On Saturday I woke up tired. It was windy and I was asking my self, "Do I want to run this?'. 

I got dressed, ate breakfast, and left the house.  I got to the race site and picked up my bib.  I was still feeling "wonky and off" I took a lap around the track where the race was going to start and I felt like poop, and the strangest thing popped into my mind. "Wow, Dolly you haven't had a bad race in awhile". "Huh, what?' I finished my warm up and lined up behind the front runners. 

The gun went off and I found a good spot to find my groove in. Then we rounded the corner and we headed up the hill.

There were two other female runners with me. We started to climb up the grade. Two miles of straight climbing followed by another mile of rolling hills. I tried to show these ladies who knew the hills best but, I got my ass handed to me on the climbs.

Another picture from the 2009 race. Thank you Daly Costanza for taking the pics. :)

Then the turn around followed by another mile of rolling hills, followed by two miles of downhill thunder on the quads.  Hindsight is always going to be 20/20, but I feel like I had no 'huevos" (balls) during the second half. I was less than a minute back from the leaders on a course that I had smashed in previous years. I finished 49:12.

I finished 3rd overall. Yeah, I accomplished my original goal. But, I feel that this was not a good race mentally for me. I don't normally race with an Ipod for 5k 10k races. I wish I would have had a distraction during the climb. It was a day where I got in my own way.

Again, I feel like an asshole for venting about race times. I also feel like Al Bundy from Married with Children. He loves to talk about his glory days "4 Touch Downs in one game".

1999 and 2009 were some of my best racing days ever!!

  Again hindsight is 20/20 I wish I would have started this blog in 2005. I can't help but want people to know about my past and future potential.