Parents, a princess and a pirate

First race of 2010.

Just a simple 5k that the 500 Festival Training Program puts on. It was busy though, 3000 runners registered. But it was also only 15 degrees out so not that many showed up, probably 1/2 of that or so.
I had in my head to keep a steady pace, practice running on hills (there were 2 small hills) and keeping "gas in the tank" for a strong push to the finish.
It gets close to gun time so I scoot up towards the front. I've run enough of these races to know that inexperienced runners/walkers will get in the front and unknowingly slow people up. Well, when the gun went off, the people around me were flying! So I eased over to the side, watching out for the ice on the roads and settled into a good pace. I wanted about 8 min a mile so was happy to see 8:05 when I passed mile 1. There was one point where you turn around and pass everyone behind you on the other side of the street. I got to see Lynk and his friend, Scott, running during this turn around point.
Kept going strong, still very cold. I didn't start to warm up until about 2.5 miles. I worked on staying upright during the uphills and leaning forward in the downhills. I could really feel the increased pace on the downhills by doing that. My natural instinct was to lean back to slow down but I fought that and powered down the hills, if you could call a bridge a hill...
I saw the 3 mile mark and time was 24:05, so staying consistent with my 8 min mile plan. Next step was to push hard to the finish, something I don't normally do well. But I did, I stepped it up and my finishing pace was a 7:36, down from a 8:02 for mile 3. My finishing time at 25:01, which is my slowest 5k ever. But I didn't go out to set a new PR (personal record).
Hung out by the water and bananas and saw my friend Cindy, who ran a PR of 26:00, 4 minutes faster then her first 5k in September. Then I saw Lynk and Scott. Poor Lynk had frost on his eyebrows! I went inside to stretch and wait for my friend Amy who was running her very first 5k. She did well, better then she expected.
After I got home, I check the on-line standings. I ended up finishing in 25:01, 24th for females and 5th for my division. Very pleased with that, considering it was my worst finish ever. Getting excited to see what the rest of this year holds!