What a great race! Race Report 5k - 33:54

So for those of you just joining me I am going to recap a bit. About 3 months ago I had this idea that I could run a 5k. I trained for a a couple of months and signed up the the 5k race of the Kansas City Marathon. I will tell you that I was nervous the week leading up to the race but I ended up running and doing pretty well. So on with the race report

The night before the race I did not sleep all that well, but I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to roll. My dad, brother and best friend Jay were at the house by 6 am and we were out the door by 6:15 and to the race by 6:30 or so. Upon arrival we were met by about 7500 people all preparing to run either the full or half marathons and the 5K. I must say that it is a completely impressive to watch about 6000 people running down the street as they took off down the street. 6000 half and full marathoners took off before the 5k runners. About 15 minutes later the 5K race began.

Once the race began I concentrated on not starting to fast and probably could have gone just a couple of seconds faster for the first mile. The second mile is mostly uphill and I felt like I ran that pretty well. Then what goes up must come down and mile 3 was pretty much all downhill so I was able to cook through that pretty quickly. I was somewhere near the middle of all of the 5k people and near the lower 3rd of all the men running it. Over all I am very proud as I was able to set a personal record and ran the race in 33:54. I think maybe I left 5 or 10 seconds out there but over 33 minutes I feel ok about that.

I crossed the finish line with my best friend Jay. My brother was about 3 minutes behind us and my dad was about 3 minutes behind him. I first want to thank Jay for running with me and holding back a bit so he and I could finish together. I will work hard so when we run our next race he will not have to hold up. I then would like to thank my dad and brother. I am so proud of both of you. My brother went out and ran the race basically with no training. My dad at age 65 ran the race in 39:11. He did his best to train a little and signed up at the last minute along with my bother. I am so proud of my brother, dad and Jay I am not sure I can express it.

At the finish line I was met by my girlfriend, her mother, my mother and Jays wife (who is also one of my very best friends). I was so happy to cross the finish line. Now I feel like it is time to start over again. As mentioned before I intend on getting back to my original plan and write stuff down and my plan also involves getting back to the gym. I am going get back to the elliptical and weights. I am going to cut back on the running for right now. I intend on increasing distance but only running once or twice a week while hitting the gym 3 or 4 times a week. This time next year the goal is to run the half marathon. And maybe even a full marathon in 2010. We will see as alot can happen between now and then, but for now that is the plan.

Overall I loved running the race and will run another soon. I now consider myself a runner. Thank you to all of you out there who have supported me both virtually and in person. I think you all know who you are. Not to get all sappy but I love you all and you all have a special place in my heart.