too little? too soon?

yeah, once again it looks like i’ve become a once-a-week blogger.  blame the post-Chicago downtime…just seems like there isn’t much to report.

I did trek to the Hobe this past Saturday to run a Halloween-themed 5K.  That didn’t go too well but there were some…uh…interesting costumes.

This was my favorite:

And gotta love that Batman is on the lead bike.

This one, however, I (and others from what I overhead) had a little issue with…(sorry!)

Now I will say, I do appreciate the creativity. However, this may not have been the appropriate place to be wearing a costume that included golf clubs and taking them out/swinging them on the run. Yes, I know it was Halloween and people just wanted to have fun, but the fact that the race organizers were giving out age group awards (and I believe money to the overall winners as well?) meant that quite a few people were going to be racing this seriously.  I passed them by around the halfway point and I’d be lying if I said I was not relieved.  Knowing my luck, I would have gotten hit by one of their clubs…

And as for my race…

Wasn’t my best.  I was hoping for a decent performance, given that it was the first time in lord knows how long that it hasn’t been 70 degrees or more and humid for a race.   Mile 1 was definitely slower than I wanted.  I had a feeling mile 2 was short, as I NEVER speed up in mile 2 of a 5K.  Refused to look at my watch for the remainder…took a split at mile 3 (yay for the marker being there) but didn’t look at the watch…but saw the race clock in the 23′s…meh.  And the heart rate info shows that I was nowhere near where I should be for a 5K (average in the high 160s or the 170s, max in the 180s)

Wasn’t in a festive mood afterwards, but stuck around to watch the awards (one UA guy was third overall, another placed in his age group) then headed back into the city and stopped by the downtown UA store, where I helped give out candy to the kids who were trick or treating in the World Financial Center for a little bit

As for my race, I don’t know.  Not sure whether to chalk it up to not being recovered from the marathon yet.  As others who ran the same marathon I did were already back at it and running well (and even PRing!)  Not to mention all those running both Chicago and NYC…I can’t even fathom that.  Or those who run other long races a week or 2 after their marathon.  Am I the slowest recover-er on earth?  What’s normal when it comes to marathon recovery?  Honestly, I wasn’t expecting a PR, but I thought I could improve on the 22:48 that I ran at the end of the summer, if not match it.

And it almost makes me afraid to race…like I don’t want any more disappointment.