Kip Boulis Memorial 5K

You may have been wondering, "Where is Krista's Cleveland Marathon race recap?" Well, I'm not ready to talk about that yet. It was bad--very, very bad. Instead of writing about it, I have chosen to do what I need to do to move on.

The Kip Boulis Memorial Day 5K helped me to move on.

Prior to the race, I had no idea who Kip Boulis was or why there was a race for him and an access road at Woodlands Park in P-burg named after him. Still, when I found out on Sunday that there was going to be a 5K the following morning (Memorial Day) at Woodlands Park, only a couple of miles from our house, I was in. I didn't think about goals for it--I just wanted to run a race and feel good.

I showed up at Woodlands around 7:15 on Monday morning, registered (no t-shirt for race day registration),  attached my bib to my Ohio Bobcats tech tee and my timing chip to my shoe, BSed with some folks, then lined up at the start near the park entrance on South Boundary. While we waited to start, a new acquaintance in my age group told me that she was aiming for sub-22 then asked me what my plan was. It was the first time since learning about the race less than 24 hours prior that I thought about a goal time. I told her that I'd just run for feel and do whatever pace my legs wanted to run.

At 8:15 we were off, and I didn't look at my Garmin until 0.69 in--at which point I was doing a 6:30 pace. I knew that I had no business running like that, so I worked hard for the rest of the mile to pull myself back. Although I was able to get moving at that pace, it took more than a mile for my legs to feel warmed up. Just before we took a turn into Three Meadows (a neighborhood where I run often), I hit mile one at 7:01.

We meandered through Three Meadows where I greeted some of my "fans" waiting in their front yard. Also in Three Meadows, I started to wonder what my goal was. Could I, like abovementioned acquaintance, also pull off a 5K in under 22 minutes? Probably not, I thought. Eventually, she pulled past me. I was okay with it because, although she's in my AG, I assumed that she was the only one ahead of me, so I should have been able to take second place. Mile two went by in 7:07.

At some point in mile three, I caught up to an older gentleman who sounded like he was running a teeny bit too hard. The wheezing and gasping coming from this dude made me uncomfortable and worry about his health. Also, it annoyed me. Once I passed him around 2.8 miles, back on South Boundary where we started, I was feeling kinda pooped and slowed down a little despite the fact that I very well could have continued pushing. I now regret that I sorta gave up, but I was happy with the run at that point and was confident that I'd place in my AG. After all, the only women ahead of me, as far as I could tell, were old ladies in the 30-34 AG and the girl in my AG who passed me.

Smiling for the finish. I look special!

As I approached the finish back in Woodlands Park, I smiled at the photographer and glanced at the race clock to see 21:57. Only a short distance from the mat, I knew that I'd cross at a few seconds over 22-minutes, but I was happy because that meant a pretty significant PR. I crossed the mat, stopped my Garmin, and made my way to the water cooler, then back to the finish to cheer on those finishing after me.

Thanks! This will go well with our trash can!

Official results a short while later showed that I finished in 22:01, 3rd in my AG. Boo! I thought I'd be second, but apparently a girl from Dave's racing team took first. I think she finished closer to 20 minutes, so yeah, she can go ahead and have that. I was and still am pumped about the PR, a great time, and scoring a coffee mug from which I'll likely never drink. Whodathunk that I was down in the dumps about running for the entire week before that?

Ohhhhh, yeah! And about that Kip Boulis guy--it's a nice story, really. He was a cop who died trying to save lives back in the day. I'm planning to pour one out for him.

It's almost time for CLE

When did Cleveland people begin referring to Cleveland exclusively as CLE? And how many of those folks actually use Cleveland Hopkins International Airport?

I've wondered that for a long time.

Anywho, it's almost time for marathon number three. May 19th. I have thirty-one miles to run before I find myself at the start line. Less than two weeks. No more double-digit training runs.

I am nervous as all get-out.

Training has gone well. Er, well, running has gone well. I haven't done any cross-training or real speed work since week three or four (oops?). BUT! I have felt so very good running--namely my 17-miler down in Georgia in week 8 and my second 20-miler around P-burg and Maumee a little more than two weeks ago. Joe has finally sold me on the slow-and-steady shorter recovery runs, and a week ago I PRed in 13.1. Dare I say that the Magic 8-Ball should tell me "Outlook good"?

No, I can't. I recently told you about my superstitious attitude. Although I firmly believe that Murphy's Law is a bunch of pessimist nonsense, there are things that could go wrong. Fortunately, I feel confident in myself; it's the weather that concerns me. We've had a couple of unusually warm days over the past week. On one of those days, my run went really well. On the other, I wasn't feeling it at all. That said, Mother Nature might be playing a big role in my performance on the 19th. As the time nears, I don't know that I will bother trying to prepare myself by looking at the weather forecast. I think I mentioned in my Glass City half recap that meteorologists are ass-clowns and cannot be trusted.

Beyond the weather, I'd be lying to say I'm not nervous about reaching my goals for this marathon. Before my first marathon last year, someone told me that I need to have a main goal and a back-up goal. I've really kicked it up a couple of notches insofar as my expectations for that main goal this time around. The nerves stem from that--how badly I want to achieve it, and thinking about the psychological battle that will begin if I realize mid-race that it's not going to happen. I should be able to persevere, but still, I want it. And since there is definitely a possibility that it won't happen, my stomach is already in knots.

I've got less than two weeks to get over it. Thirty-one miles. Then, it's marathon number three.