two seconds

Motivation can come from many different places.  It can come from internal motivation, or it can come from external motivation like a race goal, a personal PR, teammates, a team you hope to be a part of, motivational words from the always incredible Lauren Fleshman, or watching speedster Kate Grace achieve PR's.   What motivates a person one day, could be very different from the next.

After running my second 5k last week, I was motivated by two seconds.

23:01

That is the time I finished the 5k in on Thursday night.  It was almost a minute faster than my previous 5k PR.  It is 2 seconds away from being under 23 minutes.

Going in to the race on Thursday my goal was to run faster than my previous time of 23:58. Based on how I felt after that race, and the way my training was going, I new I was capable of that.  I didn't have any other time goal, except to run faster than 23:58.

I washed this shirt just so I could wear it for the race
Race day attire is very important.

Ready to run!

The race was really big, by my standards.  There were around 5500 people running or walking the course.  My friends and I worked out way through the crowd to find our way to where the runners were lining up.  There were still a bunch of people in front of us.  When the gun went off, it took almost 2 min to get to the starting line.  When I crossed over the timing mat, I took off and began weaving my way around as many people as I could.  It was tough to get around everyone.  I found myself up on the sidewalk many times, and running from one side of the street to another. Apparently some people missed the memo that walkers should line up in the back.  The street was filled with sweaty runners all working towards the same goal of getting to the finish line as quickly as possible.

With the added challenge of dodging thousands of runners, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw my pace after the first mile.

Mile 1: 7:23

I was determined not to slow down.  I've become very good at starting out too quickly and crashing at the end.  I was looking for a different result during this race.  

Mile 2: 7:21

When I saw the split after the second mile I started to do some quick math in head figuring out what my finish time could potentially be.  I was pleasantly surprise when I realized I could finish the race right around 23min if I could hold my pace.

The last mile was tough.  My chest felt like it was on fire, but my legs still felt strong.  I still had to dodge runners left and right, which made it much more difficult.  I kept pushing.  We made a left hand turn, and climbed a steep hill to the finish.  I felt strong on the hill, and worked my way around a few men who were slowing down.  I think my aggressive passing skills could use some work.  I gave it all I had when I saw the finish.

Mile 3: 7:30
Official Time: 23:01

I am very excited that I ran almost a minute faster than my previous 5k time.  I achieved my goal for the race and set a new PR.  I am certainly not going to take anything away from that accomplishment.  I can honestly say I never thought I'd be running an average pace of 7:25.  But I did.  I can also honestly say I never thought I'd be affected by a couple of seconds on my finish time.  But I am.

Those two seconds lit a another fire inside of me.  Those two seconds made me want to run another 5k.  Those two seconds are my motivation to keep working hard to achieve my goals.