This morning I woke up, checked the weather, and started in on my preparations to get downtown to participate in the St. Patrick's Day 5k. I've run this race since 2008 (except in 2012 when I ran the LA marathon). Even though I'm not really running yet, it's my favorite 5k so I didn't want to miss it. The two main reasons I love this race are:

1) So many people participate and get in the spirit of "green," regardless of speed.

2) It's a flat (for here) course that takes place early season to use as a fitness benchmark.

This year was a little different for me. I couldn't use it at a real benchmark because I'm only 4.5 months post hip arthroscopy, with another coming up in 12 days. (yep, my other hip has a torn labrum as well and I'm scheduled for surgery on the 27th of March).

My 23:08 PR was not going to get broken. I wasn't even sure how much of the course I could actually run. My goal (as usual) was to finish but finish strong at the level I could do. I set a number in my head based on what I thought I could do and went for it. My goal was to be under 45 minutes.

I arrived downtown and found street parking about 7-8 blocks from Acacia Park. I registered and got my bib and shirt. It felt great to be able to put on a race bib and timing chip on my shoe! I had my St. Patricks Day hat on to have a little fun, too.

With about 30 minutes to kill before the race, I chatted with some people I knew, got in the port-o-potty line, and then got a quick pre-walk piriformis release from the folks at Synergy Manual Physical Therapy. I needed that!

When it was time to head to the start line, I had to figure out how far back to go. Normally I'm in the first 5-10 rows so I can start strong and not have to run around too many people. I think I ended up about halfway back.

When the race started it was more of a walking march to get to the start. I had my Garmin watch so I could monitor time and pace and not worry about finding the mile markers (if there were any.) Off I went, just walking fast, and every few minutes I would jog for about 30-45s. I took some pictures and video. 

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I still had a little bit of a race mentality and tried to pick a few people off here and there, but knew I couldn't really push myself when it came to running. When I crossed Platte at the end I ran the rest of the way, picking up the pace just a little bit so I could look "good" crossing the finish line.

Chip time: 42:25, average pace 13:39. For today, fantastic!

After the race I went back to the Synergy tent and had them do a little dry needling to release those piriformis muscles some more. Then I caught up with one of my athletes, Tim, and his family and we warmed up with some coffee at Starbucks. My other athlete running the race, Amy, PR'd by almost 5 minutes today. It was a great race for all!

Race goals have to be appropriate to where you are physically. Fortunately I was able to walk 5k today, and jog a little to go quickly. Instead of skipping the race because I couldn't even come close to running most of it or a PR, I set my goal based on what I could accomplish today. Being surrounded by thousands of runners made it even better. And I got to meet the Easter Bunny...