2 races in 2 weeks

I had two 5K races in the past two weeks:

My first 5K took place on a cloudy rather warm day. I was feeling anxious about the race so I decided to do some yoga in place of regular old stretching, and it really helped to calm my nerves. There were over 1000 participants, so this was the largest race I had ever participated it. It took my a good 3/4 of a mile to pass slower runners and walkers, so I ended up running my first mile very fast to get around everyone, followed by a really slow second mile, an average half mile and a hard sprint on the last half mile. I crossed the finish line at 31:56 , but my Nike+ had me at 30:30. Here are a few fun photos from the race.

Joe's cousin (the cute little shorty) handed out water with the cub scouts. I tried to get one from him but he was refilling when I ran by the station and I got caught up in the sweep of runners.

Here I am crossing the finish line and then right after the race:

My second race was at my old high school on a clear and cold day. Here I am waiting to start the race. My family all came out to walk or run for this memorial scholarship fundraiser, so the atmosphere was much less competitive and much more supportive than my race the previous week. I crossed the finish line at 29:23, but my Nike+ had me at 28:30. Regardless of which times were accurate, I set out to finish under 30 minutes, and I achieved my goal. I even managed to shave off 2.5 minutes in my second race. My goal for spring 2010 races is to finish a 5K under 27 minutes.

From left: Me, Joe (my fiance), Aunt Rachel, Justin (my brother), Courtney (cousin), Mom, Aunt Carol, Billy (cousin), and Brittany (cousin)