York YMCA Turkey Trot 5K 2013

This is the third year in a row I've run this race and the third time I've set a new 5K at this race. For the past two years it's been the only 5K I've run so it's only fitting.

Since I haven't done much running since the NYC Marathon and am still in physical therapy trying to get my knee/IT Band/hamstring healthy and happy this was more of a fun race than anything else. Except it wasn't all that fun. It turns out running a 5K when you're somewhat out of shape at a pace that you really have no business running it won't be a whole lot of fun. It also isn't fun to positive split the crap out of any race.

While I love doing this race each year, the actual running part has never been fun. Every memory of this race, including when I did it back in high school with my swim team, include being in a world of hurt and on the verge of throwing up from the second mile all the way to 10 minutes post race. Why I continue to think the next year will be more pleasant is beyond me.

The short version of this race is that I finished in 25:31 for a 10 second PR. Some other race highlights include dodging little kids for the entire damn race, running uphill for at least two of the three miles, the dog who "sang" along to the National Anthem, and running with knee pain. The first mile felt really freaking good and I had no idea I was running that fast. If I'd known I would have slowed way down to avoid the crash and burn of miles two and three. Each mile was progressively more painful and I think I wanted this race to be over more than I wanted to be done running the NYC Marathon at mile 17 when my knee pain was at an all time high.

Lesson of the day- the 5K is not the ideal race distance for me. To be honest, despite everything this race is really fun and I will continue to do it every year. I would like to really race a 5K sometime though just to see what kind of time I could put up.