666

666! What kind of omen is it when you are waiting in line to pick up your race number and you are handed a 666? Well for most normal people it's not an omen at all - rather it's just a number that enables you to get your correct time at end of said race. Well for an over analyzer like me I thought - well maybe I'll run like the devil -- or maybe it's going to be a bad day. Well, since my running ephinany of a few weeks ago - i'm starting to become a little psycho about analyzing my times. For instance i had looked at the past i don't know how many years of results at the reindeer run and decided that i was going to finish in the top 10 of my age group, i looked at the course map and decided that although the my fasted 5k in oh approximately 10 years was a 24:55 at the pig skin classic a few weeks ago - i decided that i should be able to bust out a 22 minute run.

Well I woke up that morning and thought - well i better go out there and run in the 22's or at the very least get in the 23's or this whole running ephiphany of mine will be farse. Well then i got the 666 number at which point i decided i hated my new shoes and that my running jacket i bought last year was nothing more than a large parachute and that today was not going to be a good day. How does one psych themselves out that bad?
Anywho... as usual we didn't get there in time to have any sort of warm up -- unless of course you count jogging from the car to the pavillion - so when the bell went off I was stiff and cold - but i thought - well just go out there and run the three miles. Usually when i run in a race i try to pick someone and mentally reel them in - as a way of keeping myself from slowing down. Well i was having a really hard time reeling in these two old guys and I thought sheesh today is just not my day -- i'm barely moving - all these people are passing me -- i knew today was going to be bad. Oh - and have you ever been running and gotten a stick or something stuck to the bottom of your shoe? That's what my shoe felt like -- so i spent a few minutes trying to drag my left foot along the road to scrape the offending object off my shoe -- only there didn't seem to be anything on the bottom of my shoe. I must have looked like I had a stroke or something - running along dragging my left foot behind me! Not so sure about the new shoes by the way - love the color - but i think maybe with this particular model of shoe, they've finally altered it enough that i may have to switch my alligence to another shoe. Ok - back to the race...

Well after what seemed like at least 20 minutes (i had forgotten my watch at home) i finally get to the mile marker and my time is 7:28 -- obviously i was not slugging along like i had thought! well then my brain kicked in - and said well dummy you lined up closer to the start line than you normally do - so you were up with faster people - that's why you couldn't reel them in - which made me feel better - but at the same time I was feeling pretty crappy and was worried that my pace was going to drop way off. Well then I got stuck next to a couple of people with jingle bells on their shoes, a loud breather, a grunter, and kid that sounded like he was running in clown shoes with each step. I knew I couldn't stay with that pack for the rest of the race or I would go mad! I saw i girl up ahead that had her shoe untied so i decided to catch up to her to let her know about her shoe. She was grateful to me and the next ten zillion people that told her about her shoe i'm sure! Anyway - I thought - just stick with this girl to the end. Well we pass the mile two mark and i'm at 15:20 or 15:30 something I don't remember -- but i remember thinking holy cow - yes my pace dropped off a bit - but I'm still running under and 8 minute mile -- maybe a 23 is in the cards today. As I turned the corner after the 3 mile mark I tried to kick it in - but it was one of those days that i was trying not to show the finish line my breakfast - so i just kept it strong and as i crossed the line I saw 24:09 -- which i was initially disappointed in. But... official time...23:58!!! Woo hoo -- i broke 24 for the first time in 10 years -- and I ended up #10 - out of 44 in my age group -- so mission accomplished for the day. Maybe if i stop being such a head case and start expending all of the effort i put into over-analyzing into training - maybe I'll be able to break 21 early on in the new year! Maybe i'll make my new year's resolution to stop over analysing and self doubting!!! Think i'll get a jump on it a little early though... sheesh this is a long post for such a short race!!