2013 Goals

Happy New Year! I can't believe 2012 is already over. It was a great year but I know that 2013 will be even better. I have some big goals for 2013 and after eating way too many sweets and taking a nice break from running this holiday season I'm anxious and ready to get back to work. This year I've decided to take my approach to New Year's resolutions a little differently though.

After realizing that 12 months is too long of a time to allow myself to achieve certain goals I decided to break my 2013 goals up. I set some goals for the entire year, some first the first half, and some for the second half. I am primarily focusing on my goals for between January 1 and June 30 and then will reassess for the rest of the year.

Goals for first half of year

• Sub 2:00 Half Marathon. This is my number one goal running wise going into 2013. I ran a 2:03 half unrested in October during the middle of marathon training which tells me with some sub 2:00 specific training this one should be in the bag. Not only do I want to break 2:00 I want to crush it. I am making some big changes to my training (more info to come) this year and know that I am capable of more than just a 3 minute PR. 

• Spend the day hiking in Patapsco State Park. This past fall I spent a lot of time running the trails of Patapsco and completely fell in love with the park. It is the perfect place to escape my less than pleasant neighborhood at school and destress. I was hoping to get a chance to go hiking here in December but finals seemed to suck up all of my time. This goal is for pure enjoyment.

• Do at least one early morning workout a week. I used to naturally wake up early as a child and had morning practices and school to thank for my early wake up calls as a teenager. Lately I have been sleeping in later and later and then find too many things that need to be done and before I know it I have run out of daylight. I think comitting to one morning workout a week is a doable way to start transitioning to workout out almost every morning.

• Get INDS proposal passed. This has nothing to do with running or working out but it may be the most important goal I have. I am majoring in interdisciplinary studies, which means that I essentially design my own major. There are a few core classes that all INDS majors are required to take but the rest of the classes are chosen by me and my advisors. In order to make sure students are on the right track it is required to write up a proposal and have it approved by a committee. It sounds a lot more simple than it really is unfortunately. It is a long and complicated process and I am hoping to have it all taken care of by mid-March (fingers crossed).

Goals for the whole year

• PR in the 5K. I mentioned awhile ago that I ran a 24:29 5K back in high school when I was still swimming 15+ hours a week. My 5K PR since starting running is a 25:41 that I ran this past year a week and a half after my first marathon. It was also my first run since the marathon. After trying to ignore my real 5K PR I have come to accept it and now I want to beat it. This is not a primary running goal for me but I would still like to set a real PR this year. I am hoping to run a 5K in the spring but I don't feel any pressure to get this done ASAP.

• Train with higher mileage & hit a 50 mile week. I have always been afraid to run a lot. I normally run 3-4 times a week with a lot of cross training thrown in. I have long term goals that require that I start building my endurance and get used to running more. I also know that one of the best ways to get better at running is to run more. I am sure I will hit this goal during marathon training in the fall but I want to train with higher mileage in general all year.

• Run 1,000 miles. This goes along with running higher mileage. I think this is a doable goal and because I am a numbers person it is something that makes me excited to train more. 

• Sub 3:00 Olympic Triathlon. Along with running I am looking to make big improvements to my triathlon racing. I finished my first Olympic distance triathlon in 3:37 but I also walked almost the entire run because it was abnormally hot that weekend. Coupled with my new & improved running training I think this is a good goal to work towards. I don't know if it is realistic for me or not but I'm sure going to try.

• 4.00 GPA. I have always come close but have never actually had a perfect GPA. 2013 consists of two semsters which means two chances to make this happen. Even if I fail at least I should still be rewarded with a solid GPA.

• Read 10 books. I love reading but often get caught up in the madness that is social media and spend way too much time on the computer. Reading is a stress reliever for me and lets my mind wander and dream. 

York YMCA Turkey Trot 5K 2012 Race Recap

The York YMCA Turkey Trot is one of my all time favorite races. I run in almost every year and always have a blast. This year my mom and dad, my boyfriend and I all ran it. The race is only a few miles from our house so we were able to sleep in a bit and ended up getting there around 8:15. I was hoping to run Tuesday or Wednesday but I just didn't want to so this was the first time I ran since the Harrisburg Marathon. I was a little nervous about how my legs would feel and contemplated doing a short warm up but never got around to it. Even though it is a "small local race" there were over 4,000 runners. Pretty impressive for York, Pa!

The race started a few minutes late but before we knew it we were off and running. My boyfriend decided to stick with me for the first mile but I could tell he wanted to run faster. I tried to keep up with him but my lungs didn't really want to. I really struggled to fall into a groove during the first mile and was getting frustrated. A little after the first mile my boyfriend decided to run ahead of me so I could do my own thing. I loved that he ran with me but I'm glad I didn't hold him back the entire time. During a nice downhill I started to find my rhythm. My chest was really burning and I was having trouble breathing but my legs felt pretty good. Definitely couldn't tell I ran a marathon a week and half before.

The last half of the race was much better than the first. I started to pick up the pace and finally felt comfortable in my stride. The course was new due to the increase in runners and I was really loving the rolling hills. I love flying on the downhills! The end of the race snuck up on me and before I knew it it was time to sprint to the finish. I felt great the last half mile and was reminded why I love running. As soon as I crossed the finish line and stopped running I felt like I was going to get sick though. This seems to be a common occurrence after 5K's. After grabbing some water I went to find my boyfriend and my parents. Everyone had a great race!

Mom- 27:47
Dad- 28:07
Boyfriend- 23:30
Me- 25:41

This was my mom's first ever running race and she has been been training for months. She had a botched knee surgery 9 years ago and started to run in the spring. It took her awhile to build up to running a 5K but she did great. My dad just had hernia surgery 2 months ago and this was his first time running since the summer. Both did awesome! My boyfriend didn't do a best time but would have had he not run with me for the first mile. He is the best! I'm really happy with my time. I didn't care too much about my time but a PR is always nice.

An(other) Unofficial 5K PR!

Over the past few months I have had a love/hate relationship with running. Most of the time I hate it, but I want to love it in the worst way. After struggling through a series of miserable runs I decided to take some time off. I knew I would grow to truly hate running if I pushed myself through it. With triathlon training starting this was the perfect time to take my running hiatus. I still did 1-2 runs a week but I didn't worry about distance or pace.

With only three weeks until my first triathlon I knew I needed to step up my running game. I was planning on running on Friday but had no plans for how long or fast I wanted to run. As the day progressed I felt more and more like doing a hard run. It had been months since the last time I really pushed myself during a run so I felt ready to see what I could do.

I settled on three miles hard and even made a playlist to motivate me to run fast. The playlist started out slower and finished with music that would get my booty moving. Since I hadn't done a hard run in so long I had no idea where to expect my pace to be. I know that my overall fitness level is high but I wasn't sure if that meant my running fitness was also high.

I made sure to start off the run conservatively so I wouldn't burn out. There is nothing I hate more than positive splitting hard runs like this. Must be my Type A personality. Anyway, I settled into a pace that I like to call "easy speed." I was cruising along but not huffin & puffin yet. I felt like I was flying but I really wasn't sure how I was doing. I was quite surprised when I checked my watch for the first mile and saw 8:26.

I have only ever broken 8 min once before but I wanted to do it again. I picked up the pace during the second mile but made sure to keep everything in check so I would still have enough energy for the third mile. When the running got tough I tried to focus on keeping my cadence high. My cadence is still relatively low but this was definitely a good distraction. Before I knew it I had finished the second mile, and in 7:42! This was a new mile PR for me! I was so excited that I didn't even care if my third mile was slower just so long as it was still fast.

The third mile where was things got real. I started to develop a side stitch and I was terribly out of breath. But I knew I having a crazy fast run. It was during the third mile that I decided to change the run to a 5K. I ran a 5K time trial during my first week of training and wanted to be able to compare my times.

The third mile was a much of a mental challenge as a physical one but I finished it in 7:33. At this point I was already incredibly happy. But I still had .1 left. I wanted to quit so badly but I pushed through and finished the run in 24:27 for a new (unofficial) 5K PR! When I did my 5K time trial back in the end of March I did it in 25:41 for a pace of 8:18.

What made me even more ecstatic though was that I beat my 5K PR from when I swam back in high school. I don't count that time as my 5K PR because I was swimming 20+ hours a week and in much better shape. It is not realistic for me to count a time that I did years ago with that kind of training. For me my glory days were when I was swimming. I was really good at swimming, qualifying for nationals multiple times, but was forced to quit due to injury. It means the world to run a time that I did as a swimmer. It means more than I can even explain but when I saw that my time was 24:27 and my swimming PR was 24:29 I burst into tears!

What I Learned...

... from the York YMCA Turkey Trot.

Even though I PRed at Thursday's turkey trot, I am not particularly happy with my race. I'm so glad that I did a personal best, don't get me wrong, but it definitely was not one of my best runs.

1. I need to start drinking MUCH more. I don't normally drink a lot the morning of races for fear that I will have to use the bathroom too many times. I didn't think this was a big deal until I realized that I felt so terrible during the race because I was dehydrated. I have dealt with dehydration before with swimming so I know how important getting enough to drink is.

2. Walking breaks are okay. I hate walking during races because I am tired. I do like to walk at aid stations, but that is only so I can successfully get something to drink. At one point during the race I felt mentally and physically exhausted. I decided to walk for just 10 seconds and that proved to be enough to get my head back in the game and ready to negative split the rest of the race.

3. A lot of things will go wrong that are out of my control. I didn't particularly like the course this year. There were a few spots where it was very difficult to pass people. I started to get frustrated and waste valuable energy over a situation that I couldn't control. I need to focus on what I can do to make myself more successful and ignore the things I can't control.

One thing I really love about racing is how much it teaches me about myself. I want to take these revelations and apply them to future races so I am always getting better and learning from my mistakes.

York YMCA Turkey Trot Race Recap

So I ran a turkey trot yesterday. So original, right?! I was so excited to be running this race with my family and friends.

The race started at 9:00 and we only live about 10 minutes from the start line so it was nice to be able to sleep in some. We left our house at 7:45 so we could find parking and then hung out inside the YMCA to stay warm.

I met up with my friend Paige who I used to swim with. She is still swimming but is getting more into running. She ran her first 10K in September and will be running her first half marathon in Pittsburgh in May.

We chatted for awhile and then decided to part ways to head for the start line. My super fast cousin and his wife went out early for a warm up because they are hardcore runners. I am not.

My dad, boyfriend, and I went over to the start line and mingled with some other friends that I used to swim with. (The race was put on by the YMCA that my swim team is a part of so all the swimmers run the race).

My boyfriend and I left my dad to go a little closer to the start line, listened to the announcements and rules, and then we were off!

My boyfriend ran with me for the first couple minutes but wouldn't stop tickling me so I told him to run ahead of me. He is faster than me so he took off sprinting, never to be seen until the finish line.

My plan was to run a smart race and negative split it. The problem was that I wasn't sure what pace to start out at in order to still be able to PR and run negative splits.

Before I knew it it was the first mile, run in 8:41. I was pleased with this split and tried to pick up the pace a little, but soon after I started feeling dizzy.

The second mile had a few small hills. Nothing like Baltimore, but enough to slow me down some. I really wasn't feeling all there during this mile and I started to think my chances of PRing were going out the window.

I stopped to walk for about 10 seconds in hope that I would start feeling better and then was on my way. I did start feeling better but not much. I just felt like I wasn't fully aware what was going on. Not a good feeling.

Mile 2 came in at 8:49. I was disappointed that I had slowed down but it wasn't that much so I hung on that little bit of hope I still had.

Mile 3 felt much better. It was run on a trail that was too narrow to really pass people, which was frustrating, but I love the trail anyway. It was a great feeling knowing exactly where I was and that I was almost done.

Mile three flew by and before I knew it the finish line was in sight. I tried sprinting to the finish but it really wasn't that much of a sprint at all.

Immediately after I stopped running I thought I was going to get sick. It was terrible but luckily nothing happened and I started feeling better after a few minutes.

Everyone had a great race yesterday, especially my boyfriend. It was his first 5K and he ran a 21:38! I couldn't be more proud of him.

To my surprise I actually crossed the finish line with an official time of 26:57, for a 1:23 PR!


My dad ran a great time of 27:42, the best he has run in a long time, and my cousin's wife finished in 23:45. My superfast cousin ran a 17:00 to finish 8th overall. Even more impressive is that he ran the New York City Marathon and hadn't run since then. His best 5K is a 15:56! Holy fast!

I hope everyone who raced yesterday had a great time and everybody had a wonderful turkey day!

I Lied

It is probably no secret that I am not exactly a speedy runner. Shocker, I know. I have never really worried about my (lack of) speed because running was something I did for pure enjoyment.

Well, I may not have mentioned that a few years ago when I was in high school I ran a 5K with my swim team. I had pretty much never run before but I was still in the best shape I have ever been in.

The race was a local turkey trot on Thanksgiving morning. We had swim practice 6:00-8:00 in the morning and then had to run the 5K at 9. I had nothing to eat all morning and knowing my previous habits I probably didn't have anything to drink either.

I planned on running this race with a few of my friends. We were only there for the free bagels afterwards. And our coach made it mandatory (minor detail).

Soon after the race started, though, I felt like I could really pick up the pace. And so I did. I ran ahead of my friends and was passing people like crazy.

And then by about 1.5 miles I couldn't even run anymore. I needed to walk. I stopped for a bit then continued running, but ultimately stopped a few more times before finishing.

I felt like absolute shit crap. I crossed the finish line never more happy that I was done racing. (I still liked racing in the pool luckily.) I didn't even check my time.

And then my coach asked me what my time was. Uh oh. I had no idea. I went to the results list and saw that I finished in 24:25. At that point I didn't care about my time except to tell my coach that I actually finished and didn't die along the course.

The point of this post is to point out that I used to not half bad at running. I ran a 5K at a 7:52 pace with absolutely no running previously. (I was in serious shape as a swimmer though).

I haven't even run one mile under 8:00 since I started running in April. Sometimes this frustrates me but most days I use it as motivation. I have it in me somewhere to run more than three miles under an 8:00 pace.

I might not get back down to that speed any time soon, but I will SOMEDAY. I know I have potential, maybe not much, but I have a lot of room for improvement right now and I am so excited for what will come of that.

Turkey Trot 5K Training

I am running the York YMCA Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving and I have been trying to decide how I want to train for this race. I am absolutely not a sprinter when it comes to swimming, biking, or running. However, I know I can run a faster 5K than I did in June and this is the perfect time to crush that PR.

I have been struggling with coming up with a training plan for this race because running the Rock n' Roll USA Half Marathon is also on my radar. I am going to try incorporating some speed work into my training but I also want to make sure I get in some long runs too.

Because it is pretty hilly around here I am only planning on running four times a week. I would love to run five days a week but given the hills nearby I don't want to end up injured. Because of this I want to put a heavy emphasis on cross training. Luckily I have some pretty awesome free options for cross training at my school.

I don't have how much I want to run on what days yet, but I know how many miles I want to hit each week and what runs I want to incorporate into my week. It doesn't matter which day I do each run though. As for running I want to do one speed work run, one long run, one tempo run, and one easy run.

I have never done speed work but I have heard a lot of really great things about Yasso 800's so that is what I am going to be for my speed work. I am going to start out with only 2 repeats and work my way up to 4 repeats by race day.

I do want to do some long runs but they will only range from 6 miles to 8 miles. I want to use this time to get really comfortable with running these distances without stressing running longer distances.

I also want to use my easy runs to get more comfortable with running 5-6 miles. I am really comfortable running 3-4 miles right now meaning that anything longer than that is still a struggle for me. I want to increase my endurance some before I jump into half marathon training.

Finally, tempo runs. Tempo runs are actually my favorite type of runs. I lost a lot of my speed since I left for school but I am hoping that with the combination of tempo runs and speed work I will really be able to increase my speed.

A few weeks ago I started doing yoga and that is absolutely going to stay a part of my training. I am planning on sticking to doing yoga twice a week so that I can still do some other cross training.

Over the summer I started doing Insanity and it really helped my running. But then I stopped doing it and I am not quite sure why. Insanity is a great workout and will absolutely help me increase my speed and endurance.

I also want to start swimming again. I stopped a few weeks before my Baltimore so I could focus more on running but I really want to start again. Swimming calms me down and is almost like yoga for me.

Any suggestions for crushing my current 5K PR?!

Tentative Fall Race Schedule

As many of you may know I am racing my first sprint triathlon at the end of August. I am super excited about this race and training for it has been going pretty well. Something you might not know if that I am planning on going to school at UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore County) in the fall. Last year was my freshmen year of college but it didn't exactly go as planned. I started off at the University of Pittsburgh in the fall and ended up coming home for the spring semester for medical reasons. During a swim practice at Pitt my left arm went numb and as a result I spent the night in the ER. At the time the doctor thought I was having a stroke, but later it was found out that I have an extra rib on each side of my rib cage. In order to prevent further complications I needed to have surgery. So I left school and went home for a semester. I took online classes instead of attending classes per doctor's orders. Originally I had planned on returning to Pitt in the fall but then I realized how much I liked being closer to my boyfriend and decided to transfer.

I know that is kind of background but I wanted to explain why I am going to this school. Location, location, location. Just because I will be going to school full time in the fall doesn't mean that I won't be running and training though. I have found a few races that I want to run this fall but I don't really want to sign up for much yet because school will be my number one priority.

So far my schedule looks like this:
9.24- College Park Cares 5K
9.25- The Great Prostate Cancer Challenge 5K (Baltimore)
9.30- The Great Prostate Cancer Challenge 5K (Harrisburg)
10.2- Warrior Dash Virginia
10.15- Baltimore Half Marathon
11.24- York YMCA Turkey Trot 5K
12.3- Hot Chocolate 5K & 15K
12.10- Santa's Sleigh 5K

I do not plan on doing all of these races but these are the ones that I am considering. I definitely plan on doing the Baltimore Half Marathon & the York YMCA Turkey Trot 5K though. If anyone has done any of these races or has any suggestions for ones that I should consider it would be greatly appreciated!

Baltimore Women's Classic 5K Race Recap

Gun time: 28:46 (9:16)
Chip Time: 28:20 (9:07)
Garmin Time: 27:40 (8:55)
316/2689 Overall (12%)
31/180 15-19 Age Group (17%)

I am going to start off by saying that this weekend was probably not the best for a 5K, or any race for that matter. My parent's friends came in late Friday night so we stayed up until around 2:00 in the morning catching up with them and having some drinks. I was planning on sleeping in on Saturday but woke up at 9:30. Normally that would have been enough sleep but I was already behind on sleep from the beginning of the week. Saturday was spent hanging out by the pool, eating lots of seafood, and relaxing. It was a super fun day but pretty tiring. I ended up eating far too much food and actually felt sick from it all. Around 9:00 on Saturday night Callen and I headed down to his house since the race was 30 minutes closer from his house. The only problem was that we ended up going to sleep around 1:00 in the morning and had to be up at 5:00 to get to the race.

When the alarm went off Sunday morning Callen and I were both super tired and not wanting to get out of bed. With a little push, we were awake and starting to get ready. I only ate a banana for breakfast since I was still full from Saturday's eating festivities. We left his house around 5:45 for the 45 minute drive into Baltimore. Between parking and walking to the race it was about 6:45 by the time we got there. I had already picked up my bib and timing chip so there wasn't much to do once we got there other than use the bathroom and just relax. The race start and finish were right by the harbor so we walked around a little to loosen up and enjoy the beautiful views. About 10 minutes before the start of the race everyone started lining up. We were supposed to line up according to our pace but the pace markers were 7 min and 10 min. I was aiming at running the race around 9 min/mile or faster so neither of these really worked for me but I just went with the 10 min/mile because I figured other people were in the same situation. Exactly at 8:00 the race started and we were off.

The first mile felt really great. I was passing people like crazy and felt strong and fast. My goal was to start out conservatively and then get faster with each mile. Even though I was going fast and I didn't feel like I wouldn't be able to go faster. During this mile I was really getting into a groove and I was thinking that this was going to be a really fast race. I finished the first mile in 9:02 according to my Garmin. When I saw my time I knew I was doing really well and just wanted to keep it up for the next 2 miles.

Mile 2 was even better than the first. I continued to keep up a great pace and pace lots of people. There was a hill during mile 2 that I totally killed. I pushed both the uphill and the downhill and felt amazing. I knew I was strong on hills and used this to my advantage to blow by tons of people. By the end of mile 2 though the sun was out in full force and baking everyone outside. There was a water stop too but I was unable to get any water unless I wanted to stop and pour it myself. I decided to just keep going. I finished mile 2 in 8:36 but was nervous for the last mile because of the horrible heat but just kept mustering on.

The third mile was definitely a tough one. The sun and heat were really getting to me and I just wanted water. I slowed down some because I felt like I was going to pass out from the heat. I made to the second water stop and drank half of the water and dumped the rest on my legs. It felt so great and was the boost I needed to finish the race. I was still going slower but refused to walk or slow down too much. The race ended right by the water, which I loved. Running by the water is so pretty and I can't help but smile. With about .1 left, a girl came flying out of nowhere and ran right into me causing me to almost face plant into the asphalt. Luckily I saved myself but I was pretty pissed about losing so much momentum. I finished mile 3 in 9:07.

Despite everything, I was very pleased with the race. I got my PR and met most of my race goals. I got a bottle of water, a quarter bagel and a piece of watermelon after the race and started to feel better almost immediately. After the race, Callen and I made the drive back to his house and then took a nap that lasted almost the whole afternoon. It felt great to finally catch up on some sleep and rest after my race. As we were we eating a late lunch after we woke up and knocked my knee cap out of place. I fell on the floor instantly and started screaming in pain. Luckily my knee cap returned and didn't need to be manually put back in place. Even still, my knee is very sore and not really wanting to do much. I was supposed to do Insanity tonight but after hurting my knee that didn't happen. I am going to take it easy tomorrow as well with just some swimming and lifting. I am hoping this won't set me back much and I will back to training soon.

Race Goals

Even though I wasn't originally planning on running a 5K this weekend I still want to have some goals for myself. I didn't necessarily train for this race so they won't be anything too special but enough to keep me motivated. I decided to make both time-related goals and goals non-time-related goals. I can run and hard as I want and still not achieve my goals if it is an off day or something so I think having goals that aren't based on times are very important. So first are my time-related goals:

A     Sub 27:00 (8:42)
B     Sub 28:00 (9:01)
C     Sub 29:00 (9:21)
D     Sub 30:00 (9:40)

I am very confident that I can PR at this race so my A & B goals are big PR's. I want to challenge myself in this race and not hold back. While I am not sure about my A & B goals, I know I will achieve my C & D goals. I do not have a specific time that I want to go, but I know that I want to PR in a big way. I guess that it one of the bonuses of only running one 5K so far. On to my other goals..

A     No walking
B     Finish with a smile
C     Have fun
D     Negative splits
E     Stretch after
F     Warm up before
G     Dominate the hills

I think having these goals will help me PR this race as well as enable me to have a great time out there. It is a big race and I am hoping that the atmosphere will really help my running. I believe that each one of these goals is very attainable so despite my time I will be still achieving something. I'll report back on Sunday with a full race recap and an update on how my goals played out. Have a great weekend!

Dillsburg Pickle Chase 5K Race Recap

I started race morning off my waking up at 6:30 to make sure I had enough time to eat breakfast, organize my stuff, and get to the race on time. For breakfast I made toast with peanut butter and bananas with a Greek yogurt. After changing into my running outfit and packing up some extras, my dad and I were on our way. We left the house at 7:30 and got to the race at around 8:00. With plenty of extra time I picked up my race number and tshirt, and made my way to find a bathroom. I knew I would be nervous so I wanted to make sure I was able to go to the bathroom well before that start of the race. After, we found a table inside the barn and I put on my race number and started stretching. I was feeling relaxed, calm, and confident. When I started to panic I kept telling myself that I deserved to be there and not to let anybody psych me out. About 25 minutes before the start of the race I went to the bathroom again and started walking around to loosen up my legs. Around 8:55 we all started making our way to the start line, and promptly at 9:00 we were off.

My plan for the race was to build each mile and not start off too fast. Once I started running I found a pace that was comfortable and stuck with it. I felt really good for the first mile and a half. I was killing the uphills and loving the downhills (it was a very flat course so the hills were very tiny). But then I got a side stitch. I was having trouble breathing and was doing everything in my power to not give up. My goal was to run the whole thing and not have to walk at all, and I achieved that goal. I was debating whether to walk for a little in hopes of getting rid of the side stitch so that I could pick up the speed afterwards, or to keep running but to slow down the pace. I ultimately decided that it was more important for me to keep running if possible, even if that meant going slower. I did not place much importance of time for this race so I continued to run but was still trying to get ride of this side stitch.

With about .3 miles left, I saw my dad. It meant so much to have him there cheering for me and reminding me why I did this race. When I saw him I could also see the finish line so I decided to sprint to the finish as best I could. There was no official timing but my Garmin said my time was 29:24. I was hoping I would break 30:00 but it would not have been that big of a deal if I didn't. I was happy seeing my time considering how much pain that side stitch was causing me. After the race I continued to have issues breathing because of the side stitch but eventually that all went away after some walking around. I picked up a banana and some water and hit the road to come home. Overall I would say it was a successful race and one that I am very proud of.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	00:29:24	3.05	09:37
1	00:09:29	1.00	09:30
2	00:09:46	1.00	09:46
3	00:09:40	1.00	09:41
4	00:00:26	0.05	08:11