Stupid Rookie Mistake

Well, I started my season yesterday with a basic 5K road race for St. Patty's day in Somerville, MA. I had a great time, got a chance to check how my training is going and kick off my 2005 race season.

For the first time, the race had a small chip for timing, I am sure you all know exactly what I am talking about. Not the strap type from TRI, but just a little chip that you tie into your shoelaces. Fine. I have the elastic laces in all of my running shoes so instead of tying the chip in, I threaded it through my race number belt. Gun goes off, and I run THE BEST 5K of my life. I past the 2-mile mark in 13:55 (a personal best) and that motivated me to keep chugging along. Finally there it is: The Finish. I really sprint to the end, passing about 5 people (I know, if I had that much left in the end, I should have run faster) and lo and behold I finished in 22:10! UNPRECEDENTED

The party starts, I am having a grand old time and when I go home that night, I check for the results and NOTHING! Since I was so dumb and didn't put the chip on my shoe, NO TIME RECORDED! I might as well not even have run! I was so mad at myself and wanted to vent here.

Then I figured, heck, I had fun, ran an incredible 5k (for me) and now that shows that the training I have been doing all winter is paying off. I cant wait for my first Tri in May!