Evergreen Pumpkin Run 10m & 5K

Race temperature? Perfect. Preparations? Eh, not so perfect. The Evergreen Pumpkin Run 10m & 5K (I did the 5K) was literally beckoning me to PR with it's lightening fast course and perfectly crisp, cool weather. My pre-race countdown began with the usual sound of the alarm at 6:00 AM. I got my belongings together and tried to get into the perfect mindset for me to PR. After a month of regimented training with my new coach that included grueling fartleks, energy-draining 5 milers, and hard mile repeats, I was ready to PR. I felt a new strength in my legs that I have never had before and a higher tolerance of pain. But one thing that overcame me on race day was my sleep output. For two days in a row I got no more than 6 hours of sleep because I was frolicking around at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Stdios in Orlando. My mom, frustrated with my inability to get to bed at the right time, said it was "PR or bust" for me on race day. So, a tired albeit determined version of myself woke up on Sunday, race day. The race takes place in Evergreen Cemetary, a venue where 1st Place Sports holds a multitude of events. The race is a good tour of the cemetary, winding through a beautiful park scattered with oaks, following a pumpkin-lined trail. We got there with 30 minutes until race time. I devoted 15 minutes of those minutes to warming up and the other 15 minutes standing in the never-ending line for the John. About a couple minutes until the projected start time, I thought 'Ah, the heck with it' and proceded into a mad dash to get to starting line in time, also completing the impossible feat of stripping my warm up gear off just in time to toe the line for the race. The gun went off and I bobbed like an apple in water trying to get through a crowd of weekend warriors. I got my place but was determined to not let anyone pass me. I hunkered down, concentrated, and cruised through my first mile in a recent best of 6:34. The next half mile I kept up the blistering pace, powered by a plethera of people lining the course cheering us on along with the 10 milers. My second mile was around 13:40 and my hopes were up. Then came the time where people started to pass me. Ah, the joy of crashing and burning. I plodded along the last mile and saved a little for a final sprint to finish. I looked at my watch and saw what I had expected, a PR by the time of 21:33, a 15 second improvement. My PR got me 3rd in my 11-14 age group, but now the hardware I recieve isn't used for glorifacation of myself like I used to do. I figured I did well in the race considering the conditions over the past two days leading up to the race. Hopefully I can learn from this situation and hope it never happens again. The next race I'm diong will be the Hog Jog on November 8th which I will do with the kids I train with. Then after that will be the long-awaited duel between me and my dad, the Native Sun Mandarin 10K (we've been trash talking with each other for weeks leading up to this race). After a recent 5 mile PR of 36:27 which I did in practice, I feel confident that I can not only beat my dad, but also PR massively and reach my goal of sub-45. So long and keep running in this cool weather!