Redbull really DOES give you wings!

Alternatively titled: That certified course was way short. But either way- 23:55! Yay! So I qualify for a seeded position in the Crescent City Classic spring race, which is the 10k, and one of the bigger races around here. That will be cool- getting to start ahead of all the walkers who ignore the announcer telling them to line up at the back...

Only too bad it isn't legit. I finished in 23:55, but unfortunately it was for only 2.95 miles. I knew the third mile was short, and I thought they just somehow messed up the measuring. But then I heard people say that one of the leaders might have missed a little turn that should have brought us a little wider on the loop and made up the difference. I'm not sure, because the director never mentioned anything being amiss, but it definitely was. I don't think it affected order, because everyone just follows the person in front of them, but either way it resulted in some 'fast' times!

I wasn't sure how things would go, because I had a couple of roadblocks to having a great race. I got home too late last night, finally hitting the sheets at about 1 am, with a 6:45 alarm set. I had been to a little get together, (two, actually) and eaten a bunch of junk food (boo- things aren't looking good for the 21 day Habit Challenge after yesterday). The first was a pumpkin carving happening at a neighbors, the second at a friend's house later. At the first I ate a bunch of chips and dip, had a glass of wine, and won the contest with this:

Not the clearest picture, but you get the point. Then at about 7 I headed to another friends where a few of us from the restaurant were getting together. We have a pretty tight group of nine girls plus boyfriends/spouses that hang out. Here everyone brought a dish, and I ate far too much of all of it, mostly of the chips, dips, and cheese variety. And I had two glasses of wine, and came home too late.

So I hadn't had much sleep, had strange food in the system, and was running late. My coffee didn't do it's usual trick of taking care of business before the race, so I had that to stress about too. I didn't want to have to quit! I also was drowsy, and bought a redbull on the way about 30 minutes before race time...probably not the best idea since I had never had this before. I was confused as to where registration was, but eventually made it the start during the anthem with only enough time to get my headphones on and throw the t-shirt over a tree.

The first mile I knew was way too fast, at 7:46. I tried to slow down a little but not too much, and the 2nd mile was 8:13. I was right on target to be at 3 at 24 minutes, and have a minute to get to .1, but I felt like I was about to throw up. It was warmer than I expected, and much of the course was in the sun. I was trying to hold the pace until 2.7 or so, at which point I could probably kick it up a notch and finish well. Of course the redbull did give me energy, but was sloshing around in my stomach and I worried I was going to gag.

Anyway, right where I was about to look at the garmin expecting it to be about 2.7, I could see the 3 mile marker. This made no sense, and I checked the watch and sure enough it was early. Because I was about to lose my breakfast and now knew I had plenty of time I let off the pace a bunch. I finished (by garmin) at 23:52, with 7:52 for the last .95 miles. Yep- that's right...the course was short by .15! That's huge!

Still, I think I would've made 25, because I had slowed down a lot once I knew I was going to make it, and I'm actually glad I did. Had I gutted it out and made 23:30, I would probably never touch that again in a 'true' 5k, and it would be disappointing. So at least I can hope that I might be capable of 23:55 again on a course of proper length....just not right now!

Either way I'm happy, but kinda a crappy way to PR, you know? Hope everyone had a great Halloween!