It was a beautiful morning and I picked Brit up at her dorm around 6:15 am. I really enjoy race mornings. I have never been a morning person since I spent a good portion of my life playing music and that usually meant staying up late at night rehearsing, playing gigs or “promoting” in clubs. Since I began running, and now doing triathlons, my internal clock has had to readjust to the morning training schedule. I have found it much easier to stay on schedule by doing my training in the mornings. Something always seem to come up in the afternoon and evenings that can derail even the best of plans. Not to mention being tired from the days stresses, or in my case, sessions with clients running long or mixes that need to get done. So, I train in the morning. I usually get up around 5:30, eat breakfast and I’m off. It is usually just around sunrise when I leave my house and it is really peaceful outside. I have really come to enjoy it. 
Back to the 5K. I picked Brittany up at her dorm. We got a little lost on the way to Eldorado Park, where the race was held, but we eventually found it and got there around 7:15. The race started at 8:00. I generally like to get there a little earlier than that so we can relax, check in and get our race bibs and not have to rush to the starting line. But, today we were a bit behind. We got in line to get our race bibs and when we got to the front we were told we were not on the list. I registered us 2 days prior to the race, but apparently the Active headquarters that is based in San Diego had to evacuate due to the Southern California fires and the list that was at the race did not reflect our paid registration. The Lady who was handling the registration was fantastic and said that we were fine and go to the other line and we would be given our race bibs. By now it was about 7:45 and we had our bags that needed to go back to the car. I like to do a warmup run before a race so I did a brisk run to the car and back with about 5 minutes to spare before the gun went off. When I say gun, I mean gun! Most races use an air horn to signal the start of the race. The Ironman uses a cannon, but this race used a gun! A very loud gun! It scared the crap out of most everyone. Maybe that’s why it is called “The Running Scared 5K”. I mean we were in Long Beach.
With that we were off and running. I asked Brittany what her goal time was. She said she didn’t want to say a time, I figured that she would come in under her previous PR of 31:00, but I had no idea how much under. She has been putting in a ton of miles, training for her Marathon in February. And one of the great advantages to that kind of volume is faster paces without much more perceived effort. I on the other hand have cut down on my running mileage due to training in three disciplines. Boy did this show in our finish times. Brittany absolutely rocked it. She finished in 26:50! I finished in 25:51. Man the numbers just don’t lie, and goes to show that you get out what you put in. The look on Brittany’s face when she saw the clock was priceless. I was VERY proud of her. I was disappointed in my time, but it is understandable considering my current training. I had a bit of a problem breathing during the race and felt like my lungs were on fire. I am guessing it was due to all the smoke in the air from the fires but I am not sure since Brittany didn’t have that problem. I have only felt that one time before and that was in Iceland, and that was due to the cold weather, (I think). Nonetheless, I better get some speed work in at least once a week or my Daughter is gonna smoke me. But that wouldn’t be so bad, it would just mean more pictures of me crossing the finish line, since she would get there first. Man, I love it when a good plan comes together!
Paul
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