Fresh As A Daisy 5K - PERSONAL RECORD!

This Saturday I raced in the ARC Daisy 5K, the first race in the popular ARC Sprint Series. I used the Sprint Series last year to hone in on my speed, and it definitely helped me have an even faster marathon time come Fall 2009 in San Antonio. I shaved roughly 3 minutes off my marathon PR in 2009. I've long been a believer in garnering speed before you launch into marathon training, and 2009 was a perfect example of how well that method worked for me. I'm hoping it works even better this year and gets me to a personal best and perhaps a Boston Qualifier in my next fall marathon!

I will start training over the summer for my fall marathon. I'm still toying with the idea of doing the Chicago Marathon. There are so many other events I'm interested in around that time, I'm suffering from FOMO (FEAR OF MISSING OUT). There are SO MANY marathons and triathlons out there! So hard to pick just one. In my heart of hearts, I know Chicago is the right one. It's flat, fast, scenic and has lots of support. I just need to come upon that realization for myself and in my own time.

The Daisy 5K went great. I hit a recent PR and I'm very proud of that! My all-time PR was set back in high school when I was only training for 5K - that was a 19:52. That's in the past, though, more recently I haven't been able to break 22 minutes. Saturday, though, I did! I did it, with winds of 30mph pushing forth during the last mile. I pushed really hard into the wind at the end, knowing I had to do it to stay under 22. I felt like I was going to throw it at the finish line, but somehow, when that volunteer handed me my orange daisy, I felt refreshed and wonderful within mere instants.

Now that's what I call FLOWER POWER.

I emerged from the finishing chute, feeling fresh with my daisy, and I ran off to cool down along the last stretch of the race, looking for my friends and cheering them on like nuts. The food and festivities afterward were great, ARC puts on great races, bar none.

After chowing down, I headed to my gym for some hatha yoga. Crazy enough, I ran into a fellow competitor in my age group who beat me by a minute. We chatted about training, triathlon, and running for a long while in the middle of the gym. It was cool to meet her and I'll have you know I'm determined to beat her next time we race. I don't know how fast she is on the bike, but we're both doing the Galveston Lonestar Olympic Tri and if I have anything to say about it I'm going to GET HER!! It's going to be great. So was the Daisy, though. And I have a feeling that if I would have trained more than a measly 20 miles total in the month of February I probably would have been neck and neck with her. But that is all could-a, should-a, would-a, didn't and it doesn't matter anymore. The only thing I can change now is the present. And as far as today goes, I'm off to do a double spin class this afternoon at my gym from 6-8p. Beto first, Zach-attach second at Pure Austin, the little gem of a downtown gym.

Oh and Sunday? I took a jaunt out on Fitzhugh in the late afternoon after the wind had died down. Lance's stomping ground. I pedaled through the hill country with a smile on my face and fire in my heart. It was gorgeous cycling into the sunset and I couldn't help but dream about future half Ironmans and Ironmans. What a way to cap off a Sunday.

Current book I'm reading: The one I wrote.