Date/Location: | 2/23/2020 Davis, CA |
Distance: | 5K |
Time: | 19:12 PR! (Previous PR 19:40) |
Place: | 2nd Female Overall; 1st W13-15 |
Teammates: | 1/2 Marathon: Dana Haldeman, Martin Sengo, Troy Soares |
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go! I start off running and am excited but I slow down to make sure I don't go too fast at the start. I look at my watch and it tells me I have to speed up. I'm trying to get a 6:20 pace like the race I did in San Diego. I’m not completely trained up so I’m going to give my effort to God that way I know I'll do good. The pace feels hard already but I try to relax. There is a wheelchair racer that’s right in front of me. He seems to have an advantage because he could coast after he gets fast enough. But I soon hit a grassy landscape that I have to run over. I realize that the wheelchair has a lot more difficulties than I thought. I start to notice the cracks as I begin to run on the road again. It must be tough in a wheelchair to have to go over all those obstacles. As I’m running on the path, I begin to have a side cramp. I breathe deeply trying to not let it get worse. I think about how my dad likes it when I start off with easy breathing. I can’t do that now or I’ll get a side cramp. I start to descend downhill a little bit to go into a tunnel. You can’t see anything but the runners ahead. The runner's breath and footsteps echo all around me. I come out on the other side and think about the movie Overcomer that I just saw. In the movie, the girl's dad tells her to pump her arms up the hill, so that’s what I do when I climb up the short hill. I am back onto the flat and I see the 1-mile sign. Almost done.
I continue to run on the paths through parks and it's peaceful. In many places tree branches and bushes make an arch to run under. I’m running fast and feeling good. I come up to an aid station and grab water. I can only take one sip because I'm tired and breathing hard. I look at my Garmin and I’m at an average 6:24 min pace. I start to pick it up. It’s starting to get hard and I’m really pushing. I know if I can keep this pace up I will be truly giving my all for God and Dad today. After running on the road for a bit I see the 2-mile sign. Yes, one mile left.
A guy passes me but I try to stay with him so I can get an average 6:20 min pace. I keep my fast pace up and pass him. I look at my watch and see that I have 3 laps around the track left. I think about track season and I know I need to push hard to practice for track. I'm hurting and want to stop but I know I can't. Two laps around the track left and I start to look for the finish. I know that you pass a playground before you turn into the finish so I look around for a playground. I see a lot of playgrounds and they all look the same. So much for that landmark. I look down at my watch, 1 lap around the track. I run down into a tunnel and come up the other side. I see the finish and the expo and can’t wait to finish. I run past the cameraman and smile and point to God. Without Him, I couldn't have finished the race. As I’m about to round the corner I have a thought that maybe I would have to run around the parking lot then finish. I hope my thought is wrong, but when I come around the corner I see you do have to run all the way around the expo to finish. I’m tired and hurting but I can’t slow down. I try to speed up but I can’t go any faster then I’m going now. I finally round the corner and see the finish line in front of me. I can barely pick it up because I'm exhausted. I finish the race and am happy to be done.
I stand there for a moment and work on my breathing so I don't throw up. I say good job to some runners then I thank God for giving me an amazing race. I ended up getting a time of 19:12 with a pace of 6:18. God blessed me with a great race.
Praise The Lord For He Is Good, His Love Endures Forever