Racing on vacation

I admit it, I'm addicted to races.  There is just something about having that race bib, official time and crossing a finish line that really gives me added motivation.  Which is why I looked up 5ks in Vegas in October over the summer.  I chose this one because it benefits Alzheimer's research and Alzheimer's impacted my family through my Grandma Jean.  

I signed up for this race in August so I'd be guaranteed to run at least once while on vacation.  I'm proud of the fact that this was the third time I have been out there pounding the pavement.

The race had something I wasn't really expecting:  hills!  The plus side is that they were during mile two which lead to the last mile or so being almost all downhill.  The down side is that there were hills.  Running is such a mental sport.  You can easily convince yourself that it is going to be a good race or a bad race and either way, you'd be right.  I thought the race would be similar to my other two runs.  Nice and flat.  So I wasn't mentally prepared for hills.  And when I saw them, it surprised me and I let it impact my focus and stride.  I walked through a few of my run intervals and ended up slowing waaaaaay down.  I'm pretty sure that if I was mentally prepared for the hills I would have tackled them like I do every time I run at home.  Instead I let it effect me and added almost two minutes to my mile two split.

The important thing, though, is that I kept going.  I picked it up, especially for that last mile and I actually ran the entire last half mile.  Easily the farthest I've run without stopping.  A good reminder that changing your mindset to a more positive one you can achieve great results.  

My official time was 49:22, so it is slower than I have been running, but my pace for mile one and three kept me from being over 50 minutes.  Even though the finish time was slower than I expected, it was a wonderful morning and a fun race to participate in.