On the fourth week in March, Marlaigne Hudnall and I went to the Carlsbad 5000 with the intent of having a great time...and did we ever!
After picking up our race bibs, we had ourselves a celebratory beer...celebrating the day and the fun to come. Later that evening, we had a fantastic pasta dinner and bottle of wine, wandered around the town and hit the sack.
After tossing and turning all night, we proceeded to go to our event, and both ran the best 5K in our humble race experience. Everything just felt “right” all the way through the race.
What a sharp contrast to the race we ran the first week of April! It was a small crowd that showed up in Compton, and we decided that we would give the 10K a go as the chances looked good that we would place in our age divisions. The sun was out and it got hotter by the minute, as the “dignitaries” (Ulis Williams et al) made their welcome speeches.
Finally, we were off, and Marlaigne took the lead as always. I struggled to keep up and it was pretty clear to me that this was going to be one of those “bad days.” The side of my shins was screaming by the 2nd mile, and I actually considered giving up after the first 5K loop, but I kept telling myself, “If you can do a half marathon, you can do this,” so I walked .... a lot. At the fourth mile, the legs felt better and I was able to finish running in. It frustrated me no end to see my finish time - my worst time ever (ed. note: Karine has only done 3 - 10Ks). It was also a very good lesson in humility. I did manage to get first AND set the course record for my age division, but that is what happens when you don’t give up...and...there is no one else in your age group. *chuckle chuckle*
Marlaigne’s hard work paid off with a medal for 2nd place (5th female overall). Sam ran the 5K and took 3rd. Emmett ran both the 5K and 10K and won the imaginary combined time in the 5K & 10K (note: dead last in age group in both races).
We all celebrated with a great lunch and a couple of beers and agreed it was enough fun to do this again next year. Hopefully, I will be better prepared and will do a better job in 2001.