Story of my life

...for some reason I really like Social Distortion. They are just one of those bands I like to listen to. There older stuff is good, they have some new stuff that sounds well to. I really like the rock-abilly, country, punk mix that they use. The sound is gritty. I really couldn't say that identify with anything they sing about, but I'll say that I enjoy it. So what does this have to do with anything? I'm not sure. But I'll take this segway into what it going on...

For awhile I was off and it was not really something where I wanted to write. Some nights it was tough to do anything. I would get home and just be completely exhausted. I was tired and would make some dinner, do some work, and then go to bed. I think if Captain Hindsight was around he would probably say that training for a marathon and working this job was not the way to go. Waking up at 4am to run has it's ups and downs. I start running around 4:17-4:20am, so I'm still not really up and my legs are somewhat shot. I don't have that pep in my legs until maybe the halfway point. And with that I'm prepared to lower the expectations for the race. Ideally I wanted to do workouts and what not, but frankly it just wasn't in the cards. So a sub three hour finish is my goal. I think this is the last hurrah for me as a runner. I'm probably going to go out in style and put myself into pasture. It was great while it lasted but it's something that I can let go.

I don't know who reads this so if the last couple sentances dissapoint you, then so be it. It doesn't bother me. I've changed my perspective when it comes to this race. Things I am looking forward to seeing when I go to Charlotte: My dog, my family, my friends. That's the order. I'll have fun at the race and run my thing, but I'm going to be relaxed and enjoy the feeling. I don't mind going out for a run and what not, but the hours I'm working aren't making it condusive to training.

That's how things are with me.

Boo! Run for your life 10k Recap: Kismet

OH WE BACK!!!!!!

We've got a race recap. Could I go the traditional way like so many others and talk about certain things? OH RACE STRATEGY! OH HOW I AM FEELING! OH HERE IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING! I'M NOT CALLING ATTENTION TO MYSELF BUT I AM THAT GOOD!

That could be easy. I could be a follower. I could be a sheep. But I'm in DC now. When I'm in DC and want to play some music you know what I play? MINOR THREAT RAWWWWWWW

/actually plays mumblecore emoish band while wearing tight pants and argyle sweater

Because Minor Threat is from DC and on their only album they have a sheep on it. I don't know what the symbolism or metaphor is or where I'm going, but you know I just made one.

So where to start? Let's go to Friday because that's where it's going to beginning:

Friday

It was a half day at school and I was desperately hoping that by 5 I would be out of there. Well what happens is that I had to compile homework and I wasn't able to leave till 6. Bummer. Anyway I had a plan. I was going to go to the Harris Teeter near U street and get my pre-made pasta that I always have the night before a race. Grilled chicken and shells. AHHHHH! It's been so long. There was one problem I didn't eat lunch that day, so walking into the supermarket I was starving. BIG MISTAKE. I started to walk around and I got hit by the smells.

OH THAT LOOKS SO GOOD!

THAT GUDA IS THE SIZE OF MY HEAD! MUST HAVE!

THE CAKES! THE COOKIES! IT'S BEEN TO LONG!

In conclusion never buy food on a empty stomach. I was able to get my pasta, the take and bake bread. I need some bagels and cream cheese and liquid soap for the dishwater. Got that. Oh what did I see that caught my eye? Could it be? Halloween oreos. Dare I? Oh I dare! Then walking down the frozen food aisle I saw it out of the corner of my eye. Gino's East Frozen Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. FATTY MUST HAVE!

/disregards the 35-45 minute cook time

I ended up getting home at 7:15 and made my pizza. Now my mom is from Chicago and she is also the insane (the two are not related) and she always orders frozen pizza's from Gino's rival. There are seven of us in the house and she orders like 5 pizzas. Nevermind that 1 pizza is enough for seven people, but 5. It's impossible to finish. We freeze them. She orders them at Thanksgiving and then it's probably around Christmas time when you look into the freezer and see OH MY GOD IS THAT A PIZZA IN THERE???!!! And my two reactions are A) must eat or B) that can't be good (but I'll still eat it).

So I cooked the pizza. And well ehhh it wasn't that great. The sauce wasn't up to par, more like spaghetti sauce but the thing that always (repeat: ALWAYS) saves deep dish pizza is the crust. I could just eat previously eaten crust and I would be ok. I was somewhat tired and went to bed around 11 after watching some baseball.

Saturday

Well not much happened this day. I woke up at 6:45 (trying to sleep in till 7) and went out for a run. I was going to run 7 to get close to 80 for the week. I wasn't going to taper for the race and wanted to continue with my mileage. My day revolved around watching college football and work. I had the chicken and shells. OH I FORGOT ABOUT YOU! It was great. I savored every bite. It was what I wanted. I can't forget the bread! TAKE AND BAKE! Forever in my heart.

Sunday

I woke up at 5:30. The day before I looked at my bib number for registration and I already knew that this was going to be a great race. Bib number 704. Was that a sign? I was thinking so. I had breakfast, bagel with cream cheese and some chocolate milk. I was feeling good. I was able to do this race because the MLK dedication was happening and the metro was opening two hours early. I hoped on the train at 6:30 and got off around 6:55 at the Smithsonian. I ended up getting lost and walking around, but eventually found the race site at 7:25.

It was a cool day. I got a brief 11 minute warm up. At first I felt great! But after a couple minutes I didn't feel that great. I kinda had a strategy. I was going to go a bit slow and see what happens after that. I got to the starting line and saw about five other guys that looked like they mean business. So I figured that a sixth place finish was my worst case scenario. The gun went off!...

I ended up starting in third. I was feeling great. Other than hacking up mucus and having a cough I was fine. I was running well. I saw the guys in front of me and figured that I could beat them. I was just chilling and hit the first mile at 5:40, which honestly was where I wanted to be. The second mile we made our first turn. It was at this point where the guy dressed like a matador ran with me. We ran together in a second-third place spot for a 1.25. I hit the second mile in 5:43, but felt pretty good. The only problem was that I had a bit of a cramp in my stomach. But other than that and the wind coming off the Potomac I was good. I hit the third mile in 5:37 and knew that this was going to be a good day. I hit the 5k at 17:41. Well that's not to shabby. It was at this point the matador, who I found out was named Richard, took off and caught first place and plowed on to the win.

On the fourth mile I was not feeling well but I didn't let it get to me. I knew that the lack of speed was something I was missing, but hey I have the endurance and stamina to get me to the finish. On the the fourth mile I hit 5:49 but my garmin was saying it was .03 long. But whatever it was at this point where we were taking our turn to the finish. It was a long 1.5 miles straight ahead, but I peaked and saw that I had a thirty second lead on fourth place. Now was the time for B-Mizzle to think. Coast or go after second place. At the fifth mile I hit 5:41 and was five seconds behind the second place guy. Well time to make a move. I ended up catching him a quarter of the mile in. At this point I threw in a surge for ten seconds and then chilled. The guy came back to me. Now was a chance to see what this guy was made of. He ended up catching me and just staying with me. Well that told me all I needed to know. That he didn't have it in him to beat me. After that I got really pumped up and then threw in a hard ten second surge and broke the guy. At this point I smiled and thought I just got second place in this race. I kinda scolded myself and said the race isn't over yet. But the sixth mile was my fastest at 5:29 and finished with a 65 second last quarter. I finished second with a 35:06. I wasn't that worn out, but I was pleased.

I had no idea what I could run. I had no idea where my fitness was. But damn I forgot what it was like to run a race. I had a smile running at the end and knew that the work I was doing was paying off. I don't harbor any illusions of running things fast, but I know that I've got some base and things are going to fall in place. A second place finish was very nice. I am back to racing and finishing where I should be.

After the race I ended up meeting up with some guys for a cool down and talked to the winner about running together, so that's a lot better than doing it by myself. As for the awards and waiting for ages they did the awards but forgot second place. The winner got 100$ which nobody knew about. So after they did the awards I asked the race director and he was like yeah I didn't print out the certificate and I will mail it to you. I looked at the table with the cash on it and wanted to ask if I got some, but didn't want to be that guy. I ended up walking home through the crowds and took the metro. All in all a good day.