Bridges...You May Feel Like You're Going to Pass Out

Have you ever done something the first time & thought, "This is miserable," only to do that same thing later on and realized,"Wow!  It's not as bad as I remembered."?  Well, that was me yesterday during the Run for the Coach 5k in Fort Pierce.

I once heard someone describe 5k races as "torture."  It took a while to realize that she was right.  Because of the short distance, you've really just got to go all out, or, as I so eloquently like to say, you've got to go balls to the wall.  I'm a wordsmith; I know.  Don't be jealous!  :-)

So yesterday was a 5k (torture), and it involved the "south beach" bridge in Fort Pierce (more torture).  Did I mention that the course involved going up, over, and down the bridge twice?!  Double torture!

This picture does not give a true feeling for what this bridge is like as a runner.  Even if you've driven over that bridge in your car, you still lose some of those torturous elements.  (Interesting side note: it was so hard to find a semi-decent photo of this bridge via Google and Bing!  Who would've known?!)

The Run for the Coach 5k race followed the same path as the Bridge Buster 5k three weeks ago.  I blogged after that event about how I might not suck for the Ragnar relay based on how I did there.  The good news was that I knew exactly where I'd be running, but the bad news was that I knew what awaited me twice: the bridge!  I won't lie: I was a bit nervous because I know bridges are the bane of my existence.  You really feel like you are going to pass out, and passing out on a bridge would not end well.

Before you get too worked up, know that I didn't pass out.  Yes, I felt like it, but I'm a headcase and am typically my own worst enemy.  The good news is that I didn't feel like I was going to pass out on the first climb!  Seriously!  It was definitely more effort than a flat surface, but it sure as hell wasn't as terrible as it was earlier in the month during Bridge Buster.  (In the interest of total disclosure, I do have to admit that the winds were much different yesterday; they were nowhere near as strong as they were for the first race.  That, obviously, makes a difference.)

With the bridge feeling easier for the first climb and slightly not-as-bad on the second climb, my mile 2 split, while not great, was much better than my mile 2 split from January 4th.  (7:41 pace compared to 7:51 pace)

01/25/14

01/04/14

According to the official race results, yesterday's time for me was 6 seconds faster than the January 4th race.  The bigger victory, for me, was having the bridge not suck as much.

Hooray for small victories!