I'll cut to the chase: my Ele's Race 5K gun time was 27:45, which is a considerable improvement over last year's 31:19 (though in fairness I did run whilst suffering from a sore leg).
Still, bum leg or no bum leg, today's run beat the hell out of my very first official 5K, run almost exactly one year ago. I won't lie and say it was easy. From about the 1.5 mile mark to about the 3 mile mark, my brain (or the Blerch, as the comic strip artist--and big-time runner--"Oatmeal" refers to that evil voice inside a runner's head) kept telling my body, "Why are you putting yourself through this? You're tired?! The legs hurt! The feet hurt! It's hot out here! It's humid! STOP! WALK!" But the body ignored the brain, or maybe I should say motivation and desire ignored the quitter. I kept running, kept gutting it out, and ended up with what I'm certain will be another personal best (once the bib times are finally posted). I estimate that my time, from starting line to finish line, will be closer to 27:35. (The official times were officially posted on Monday, July 28 and I finished at 27:27. A new personal best).
Now, I'm not under any illusion that I'm a blazing fast runner, because I'm certainly not. But I am stunned by how much my old-ass body has managed to improve in just 15 months. I don't know if I've hit my ceiling yet, but I'll try to continue to improve while at the same time keeping the big picture in mind. My health and well-being has improved considerably since I took up running in April 2013--and that is what is most important.
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