Four of Five (but really of Four) - Canada Day 5km

Brutal.

Morning was chaotic, getting everyone loaded up and ready to go. We were late leaving, but still made time to stop at *$. We picked up Denise and drove out to Kanata for the Canada Day Race put on by Bushtukah.

My warmup consisted mostly of running back and forth to the van to bring back some item we no longer needed or to fetch something we'd forgotten.

Left the kids in the care of Jo-Jo, Denise and Clarisse and headed to the start line, wished Kiza  good luck and seeded myself near the front. I saw Nick and wished him luck.

I didn't think it would go nearly as well as I was hoping. My hips and back were still sore for recent workouts, and during my "warmup" I felt tight. But I was determined to let it ride.

We took off at a crazy pace and immediately hit an up hill. So much for pancake flat there Andy!  Pace was like 3:45 or something. Saw a big sign that said 1km way to soon to be the actual 1km marker, but then I noticed my stopwatch hadn't started! Grrrrr!

I settled down a bit, focused on running the tangents and taking note of the people around me. But I was already starting to feel it wasn't happening by 2km. I was hot, sore and out of breath and decide to walk the water station, get some fluids down and get my heart rate down, the hammer it home.

I must of left my hammer at home. My pace kept climbing and energy level kept dropping. By 3.5km I was in damage control. I rallied in the last kilometre and managed to hold pretty good form, if not pace, to the end.

I've been asking to much of my body lately. I have to remember this is a long term goal and plan, I'll continue CrossFit over the summer and re-test in the fall. Maybe beat Beethoven (the first 5km I ever did).

I was so wiped that I fell asleep in the van on the way home.

Final time: 22:37

Again, brutal.