The third Thursday of each month is 5k day at the running group. Only 3 people including me showed up to run, so I wasn't sure how motivated I would be to crank out a quick 5k! The guy who was timing for the night asked me where I expected I'd finish and I told him around 25:00. The last 5k I ran in the states this summer was around 24:45 or 24:50 (over some hills) and I wasn't sure I would match that without the raceday adrenaline, people for "pacing and chasing", the crowd at the finish line, etc. They also usually do their 5ks with "handicapping" so in theory everyone finishes at just about the same time, but since there was such a small # of us, and since I was new, they decided to just let us all start together. I didn't know the course, which was luckily just 3 3/4 laps, so I started out kind of fast in order to keep the other 2 guys in my sights and know where to turn during the first lap! I wasn't as concerned during the second lap, although I did stay pretty close, but started falling behind after that. The guy who was timing stood at the finish (different spot than the start) and told me, "One more lap". Of course I totally overanalyzed this... I kept thinking, "I wonder if he means one more lap once I get to the starting point and then back here to the finish, or if that means I'm done next time I get to the finish marker. Oh I really hope he means just get back here, but I don't want to get my hopes up and think I'm almost done when I'm not!" During the last lap, I had a big cramp in my right side that I couldn't breathe out (maybe from thinking too hard about the interpretation of "one more lap"...or maybe from the 5 fun-sized Snickers bars I had eaten earlier in the day!). So as I was coming around the 2nd to last corner, I was thinking, "I'd better see those guys standing around the finish line... I don't want to go around again!" Silly me, I could've just looked at my Garmin and saw that by the time I was at the 2nd to last corner, I was about 2.8 miles in! My finishing time was 23:26 and my Garmin had it accurately measured at 3.1 miles. 7:10, 7:38, 7:56, and 0:41 for the .1 (7:19 pace)/average 7:34 pace! I don't know how I pulled that one off! I don't know how far behind the other guys I was, but I'm guessing it couldn't have been more than a minute or a minute and a half. I was the only female to show up last night, and the timing guy told me based on their old times that I am going to be the fastest gal in running group. By the way, did you know that Friday, September 18 is National Run at Work day? Too bad I don't have a job! But I will be running at the gym and watching Survivor! I'm a total Survivor geek and it doesn't come on my home cable. | 