Self-Competition; Silent Victories

OK. I've been silent too long about it. I kind of wanted to secretly enjoy my "WIN" in the 5K race I ran on Sunday Super Bowl morning. (What a game! Eli Manning was phenomenal; Tom Brady is still one of the best quarterbacks - ever. And the 1972 Miami Dolphins still rock perfect!)

I have now met my first mini-goals, set last October:
1. I am not injured (race nor training).

2. I finished my first 5K race (in 5 years!)

3. I RAN the entire race: for me, no walking allowed.

4. I finished under an 11:00 pace. OK. The "official results" show me at 11:06. But, sheesh .... it took Gianni and I an entire minute to wind our way through the starting line crowd of walkers! So, that's a 33:25 race. A pace of 10:47, by my records.

5. I managed to sprint across the Finish Line - and TWO SECONDS faster than Gianni. I can't believe it. I am SO proud of my husband. But sometimes I really hate men. He's in great shape. Runs (if he thinks about it or feels like it) maybe twice a week -- and then, just around the block (1.4 miles), including a warm-up walk of about 1/4 mile. ..... So, Gianni does NO training for the race. He has not run a 5K distance in 5 years. And he ran BETTER than I did! It's not fair. He even stopped and walked a little in the second half. But he was STILL ahead of me. Until the Finish Line. Tee Hee.

6. Wow. I actually "placed" 7th in my sex/age group. Of course, there were only 25 old ladies like me IN my age group. But anyway. And I don't think the winner's pace is unrealistic for me to meet -- a 9:13 pace is doable. With more training. Speed work. And no injuries.

Next race: Sunday, 2/24. The COPS (Concerns of Police Survivors) Race, right here in lovely Plantation. Running through Central Park and finishing on the track. With a lot of good looking cops and good runners. (Yeah. Like I needed more competition right now.)