It's only 3 miles...

I keep telling myself this for Sunday’s 5k. I haven’t run anything less than a half marathon in a really long time. (I don’t count triathlon 5k’s.) I’m nervous, which is something I haven’t felt in awhile. I’m not nervous about the distance, I’m nervous about speed. On long races, I do usually have a pace/time goal but if I have a bad mile or two it’s not a big deal over the course of 13 or 26 miles. In a race of only 3.1 miles, I’m going to need to find my legs within the first quarter mile and make them speedy. The course has one mile of flat, one mile of uphill and the last mile is flat/slightly downhill. I really want that PR. So, what’s it gonna take to PR?

My goals:
-Minimum to come in under 30 minutes, a 9:40 pace
-Beat my current PR (29:29) which is exactly a 9:30 pace accordingly to RW pace chart
-Anything better than 29:29 is cake!

I’m going back and forth about wearing my Garmin. Sometimes I feel like I run faster when I’m not constantly looking at it but then again, it might motivate me to pick it up if I’m dragging. Maybe I’ll wear it but vow not to look at it unless I’m really struggling with the pace and need to know if I’m draggin’ or haulin.’ Thoughts on Garmin vs. no Garmin?

Also, music. I’m definitely going to need some ghetto-fabu-lous tunes that will keep me going for a minimum of 29 minutes and 28 seconds, maybe less. So far I have on the MUST PLAY list:

AC/DC Thunderstruck
Lady Gaga Bad Romance
Something from MJ—either Smooth Criminal or Wanna be startin’ somethin’
Something Timbaland—loving Ease off the Liquor, Morning After Dark and don’t laugh, but kinda love We Belong to the Music with Miley

At minute 26, (don’t laugh) this will start playing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tVutw8rjFk

The version I have on my ipod is approximately 4:XX minutes long, so I know I have to finish BEFORE the song is over.



As with most races, I've been constantly looking at weather.com. I figure the weather can't be any WORSE than last year (it was raining sideways with hurricane wind). While my ideal conditions would be 60+ and sunny, that'd be hard to find this time of year here, I will certainly settle for:

Mar 14
Cloudy

59°42°
0% precipitation

That last thing is key--0% rain. I can deal with a little drizzle but I really HATE running in the rain!

I know there are several other races going on this weekend---good luck to all those racing!