Goals

Results from the America's Finest City 5K (afchalf.com) on Sunday, August 14:

Overall Place	Sex Place	Div Place	First Name	Last Name	Sex	Age	City	State	Time	Pace	Bib	Gun Time	Year
164	129	18	Jack	Pham	M	24	San Diego	CA	00:25:35	8:14	6949	00:25:58	2005

25:35. A far cry from the sub-20:00 I used to do in high school but hey, that's what 50 pounds and 5 years of college eating/exercise habits will do ;-).

I don't have the picture with me now, but there's a funny yearbook picture of me in a track meet when I was 15. I looked so skinny! I'll try to upload it when I get home.

Backstory: For those who didn't know, I signed up to run in a race this past Sunday. There were two, the half marathon and the 5k, with the half marathon bearing additional 15km, $20 and agony. The 5k was run completely inside Balboa Park, and on a nice overcast early Sunday morning, I could not ask for any more.

Race recap: I started off quickly, shooting off characteristically like the Jackrabbit that I should be named for, and ran the first mile hard. And pooped out. The second mile was extremely tough, as I had expended all my energy and was paying the price by watching people pass me by. Oh well, I was running the race for myself and wasn't in it to beat people, per se, but it does knock you down somewhat when everyone else looks to be running strong. I managed to find some last bits of adrenaline-surged energy at the end, right at the 3 mile mark, to finish the last tenth-of-a-mile strong.

And so the running bug's venom has finally made me succumb to running a race, and it's left me with only more desire to run another one if only to improve my time (a PR - personal record - as it's called in the runnersphere).

Next up, the Pardee Ocean View 5k, October 2. I have it marked on my calendar.

[edit: As seen above, now you can understand why I wanted to expand the width of this blog. Grr!]