The week after…

Yesterday, 4/14/12, I ran in a local 5k race, called the Sequoia Stampede, at my local high school.  It was fun!  The start was really like a stampede.  We lined up by the end goal line of the high school’s football field (the start line).  It was a pretty small race, maybe 600 runners.  There were baby strollers allowed at the race.  There were also lots of kids and, of course, the high school students.  When the gun fired for the start, we all went off!  As I’ve mentioned, the start was a stampede!  When we got out of the high school and into the neighborhood, I was able to run my normal pace.  I tried to maintain the 8 min pace, but ran a little faster at some point.  There were two short uphills, not a totally flat course.  I was just having fun, running my ass off.  It was so quick, I didn’t realize we were back in the high school and approaching the finish line.  I tried to sprint till the finish, and I did, but as I was sprinting, I was just feeling some sort of pain on my chest.  Since it was short, I just pushed hard and ran till the finish.  I just wanted to cross a finish line this time.  And I did!  I finished this 5k at 0:24:58.  I’m not sure if this is a PR, but it is one of my faster 5ks.  I can’t keep up with my short races finish times, but I do have a goal of finishing a sub24 minute 5k (I’d accept a 23:59).