Instant personal record!!!

No matter how good or bad I did, today I was on my way to setting a personal record, since this was my first race EVER!.

Of course, it IS always better to set an amazing personal record...and I am pumped with my results!!!!!

• There were a total of 305 finishers in the race...I was #148 - 49th percentile.
• There were a total of 22 women in my age group...I was #5 - 23rd percentile.
• My time.....53:21.2 minutes, 8:36 pace per mile!!!

I know what you are thinking.......what the heck??...didn't I set out for a 9 something mins per mile goal!???. Yes I did!...but it turns out that I don't suck as badly as I did. I shouldn't day it that way, let me try again. I am a lot faster than I thought I was and all this time I have been underestimating my runs!. It turns out my Nikeplus needs to be re calibrated. According to my Ipod, I ran 5.8 miles and averaged 9:13 mins/mile!.

The good news is I am actually performing better than I thought I was...the bad news is I have to recalibrate the Nikeplus!. Wven with that minor problem, I absolutely LOVE the Nikeplus addition to my Ipod and recommend it to anyone that's looking into getting into running. It is an awesome motivational tool, very user friendly and it's an easy way to keep track of your runs. Even without being properly calibrated, I know how much I improve week to week...and that's what really matters to me.

So how was the race??.. AWESOME!!!!. Just look at the beautiful scenery we had as a back drop....

I started this morning waking up early to have some breakfast with a cup coffee,and WATER!. I know in order to perform, I need to have some fuel...so I wanted to get something in me an hour before the race. After that, I was ready to go and so excited to just get there! (pardon the morning face, but look at the happy face ;))

Alejandro (my awesome loving supporting husband!) came with me to document the experience :) . We got there and were surprised at the number of people that were there!. We went to get my chip and number and I was ready to go (after two potty breaks!).

I was very worried about getting too caught up with the excitement that I really wanted to watch my speed as we took off. Now that I look at me Nikeplus graph I am amazed at the straight line!!! I really did keep my pace throughout the entire race!!!.

During the first mile started I got very emotional. I seriously thought I was going to break down crying right then and there. As I was running, with all these people around me and such an awesome view, all I could think about was...my dad. My dad was a marathoner...and he has ran many marathons and practice runs all around the world (he would run in whatever city he needed to go to for work). All I could think about was that my dad had probably ran that same run...maybe not in a race...but he probably ran that same trail during one of his trips. Then I thought how exciting it was to know that I was literally following his foot steps!!. He's my hero, so I am honored to do anything that closely resembles his foot steps (in my case, a lot slower foot steps...haha!). So I had my little moment there...I got a little teary eyed as I looked at the beach...then I thought..."here we go dad! let's do this"...and I started to get into my pace :) Since my dad is my number 1 reader, maybe you think I am making this up to keep him hooked on reading the blog!...haha, but believe me...I had a moment there!!

Mile 2-4 were pretty good...good pace, I felt good. After Mile 4 I kicked it up a notch to finish strong. At Mile 5. I couldn't believe my timing!

When I saw Alejandro at the finish line and saw what my time was, I couldn't believe it!!!. I was just thrilled!!!. I am so excited and feel proud I did what I set out to do..

So here, publicly, I announce that in 2009 I will be signing up for more races and hope to run a half marathon!. I haven't found a good one that fits the time frame and location, but as soon as I do..I'll be posting it here! :)

So yes, I'm hooked and loving it!!.

Thank you everyone that has followed my journey to this race....I really appreciate it :)

Erpapin...we did it!!!!!!!...next year I'm bringing the sisters with me!

Happy Sunday!!!