Buddy's Race Against Cancer 5K

Today I ran in what will probably be my last 5K of the season. I don't know that for sure yet since there are two more that I want to do, but I don't think I'll have it in my budget to do anymore. If so this was the best race I've done this year.

I arrived two hours early so that I had time to register. After I registered I met with my classmate and he asked a few questions before we went to the survivors tent to sign the survivors banner. There was a group photo for survivors and we all received medals on stage. I don't like much attention but my classmate wanted to interview me for school so we set up and did the interview real quick, then add two names to my back so I could race in their honor. By that time it was time to get to the starting line to begin the race.

I weaved my way through the crowd trying to find my classmate who had went ahead of me to get some footage, but didn't see him as the race began. I finally found him just past the starting line so I grabbed my headphones from him and took off through the streets of Knoxville.

My last race I went a little slower so I could take a lot of photos and because it was so many people out that it was hard to go but so fast. This time since the turn out was less than half the previous 5K I decided I would go faster. I wanted to beat my previous best time of 48:48. I'm not a runner, I prefer to go at a run walk pace that I can maintain over the entire three miles.

Today as I was in the front pack I watched as many of the runners and joggers passed me I kept at an even pace. I turned my music up very loud and bounced along to the beat thumping in my ears. I know I had to look funny as I danced along to the music but the beat gave me a rhythm with which to match my steps. It felt good to go at a good pace.

A mile in I began to pass joggers who couldn't maintain the speed over the full distance. I could feel my legs start to burn as I kept going and passed the first water spot which I gulped down greedily. Mile two I was sweating and breathing heavier. I was still maintaining my same pace which wasn't easy since my feet were starting to hurt a bit. I gulped down water at the second water spot and put my head down to get through the last mile.

As the last mile came into view and I started to head down hill back into World's Fair Park, I could feel my adrenaline start to flow. I looked up at the clock and realized that I was getting close to my previous best time and that if I had any chance to beat it, I was going to have to pick up the pace. With the last bit of energy I could muster I sprinted over the finish line and beat my previous best time by a full 10 seconds.

This was a good race day for a great cause. I was happy to help my classmate get a good story and even happier that I got to raise money for a good cause. I am always glad when I can give back to the community that helped me so much. This is the reason I love 5Ks so much.

Another 5K

I was going to enter a 5K on the 16th of this month, but as fate would have it, another 5k came up before then. This one I didn't even know about.

While talking with classmates about our look live event stories for class, a classmate mentioned he was going to shoot Buddy's Race on the 10th. What's Buddy's Race? It's a 5K race for cancer survivors sponsored by Buddy's BBQ. I told him how I love 5Ks. He said he was going to talk to the sponsors and shoot the race and if I entered he could shoot me. I told him ok sure. So now I'm running in a 5K tomorrow.

I don't know how I feel about being featured in someone's story. I mean sometimes I don't mind talking about it and sometimes I just prefer to stay quiet. I cant explain it to people because it's too confusing. Regardless I'm happy that I'm going to get to race one more time this season.

Since this was so last minute I didn't get weeks to train for it, just a week. Unfortunately, it's been a very busy week so I missed two days of workouts which means running on just three days of training tomorrow. To make matters worse, I have to miss football in order to run this race! I hate missing football, especially when my team is coming off a bye and facing a divisional foe, but alas, sacrifices have to be made.

I want to help my classmate and I want to help raise money for the Thompson Cancer Survival Center. The breast care facility there is where I go for my mammograms and biopsies so I want to give back to them since they've done so much for me since I've been here. Running in a 5K is the least I can do.

So today I'm resting and preparing myself mentally for tomorrow. I don't know how it will go, but I'm hoping for another good race day to help ease all the stress I'm dealing with right now.