Another Reason Why I Run

Today, I had the pleasure of "pacing" Marc in a local 5K this morning.  I put "pacing" in quotes because he only needed my expertise in the last quarter of the race.  Marc has been making some serious progress with Crossfit in recent months, and even though he hasn't run outside of Crossfit, he beat his previous PR for this race by almost TWO minutes!  That is a boatload of time in a 5K.  Initially I was going to race it myself but given the recent travel, I hadn't really done enough speedwork that I felt right about going for it.  Plus I did a much-needed 9.5 miler with a good friend (loved catching up, CP!) and a weightlifting yesterday at NW Crossfit, so I was kind of tired.

I let Marc dictate the pace for the 1st mile just to see how he felt, but I knew the math to get him in under 25 minutes, which was still a big improvement from his previous time of 26:17.  Well he crushed the 1st mile in 7:45 so ok then.... He got a bit tired at the start of the 3rd mile, but at mile 2.5, I told Marc we needed to pick it up a few pips and bring it home.  He didn't disappoint and came in at 24:24!  Wow!  And the look on his face was great, although it may have also had to do with the anticipation of eating my doughnut and his.  After all, the 5K was sponsored by local favorite - Top Pot!  

This is why I run.  Marc, on the other hand, runs outside of Crossfit so he can eat my doughnut.  Whatever works.  He ran a great race today as a result of training hard and I am proud of him.