Run For The Cheetah

Ran the Run for the Cheetah 8K this morning at the zoo. Got to the parking lot and it was chilly and misting. Met up with my friend Frank who was doing the 5K with his son. We got to talking and suddenly I heard "9,8,7" so I dashed over and got in the group about 3/4 of the way back. Being a chip timed event it was ok because my time didn't start until I crossed the mat. It started out slightly uphill and then straight down through s-curves. Crossed mile 1 at 8:24 and on the really steep downs I had to do a stutter step to keep in control and not slip on the wet road. Went down to the Japanese garden and around that and then to a circle in a neighborhood and then at mile 3 my watch said 24:15- an 8:05 pace! But then the uphills, I'm guessing 400 to 500 feet. I was chugging along and a pretty girl said "do you have an inhaler?" What- she explained that the way I was panting was the same as when she has an asthma attack. Of course that freaked me out, so I walked up the 3 really steep parts. Finished about 10 seconds behind Frank and his son as they finished the 5K which started 15 minutes after our 8K. The race clock said 44:44 when I passed, but I forgot to stop my watch until after I met up with Frank after the finish. So just under a 9 minute pace for the whole 5 miles. 8:50 something. By the end the rain was coming down pretty good, so they cancelled awards and I gave Frank a ride to his car which was a mile away by a Starbucks. Stopped in and had a Chai Tea Latte to warm up. Went back and bought a stuffed Cheetah that purrs, ostensibly for my daughter, but it looks good on my printer. Now that I think about it, I did the Thanksgiving run last year at the zoo on the same roads in an 8:59 pace, so I'm probably just aerobically down a little because the Total Immersion swim class I'm doing, the thing is to not swim- only drill- to get rid of bad habits. As a result I haven't been swimming in awhile. Before I was swimming 2000 meters, 1 or 2 times a week. So that plus I had been running at an 8:05 pace explains my huffing and puffing, maybe? This race had a really good T-shirt also, even the number was good.