As I mentioned on Sunday, the last few weeks have been hard. In summary, all of my runs, races have been off pace the last few weeks. That being said, my paces are being adjusted accordingly, and I’m not going into a run or race with a false hope. I’m going into each race realistic and grateful that I can run.
My husband and I arrived at the race around 7:45. We quickly warmed up and got to the race start just in time. They started a few minutes late which was beneficial for me because I was still putting my shoes on at 8:30. We lined up and ran into my good friend Eric who ultimately won the entire race.
Once the race started, I found myself as second women overall. The goal was to run around 19:30. For the last few weeks, I’ve learned to be flexible with it. I hit the first mile in 6:07 and I knew I had started too fast. I was untapered and hurting at the end of the first mile. It’s never a good sign to hurt after the first mile of a race.
Unlike the marathon, if you hurt after the first mile of a 5k you only have 2.1 to go…not 25.2.
During the second mile, I found myself running with a high school male. We would go around a corner, and he would surge ahead…then we would go up a hill and I would. It was nice to have someone to run with…
During the second mile, I was fading. I felt tired, sore and my stomach hurt, but there wasn’t anything interesting of note. We hit the second mile in 6:21 and I knew I would continue to regress.
During the third mile, I just focused on the finish line. I haven’t hurt that much during a 5k in a while. Even though I was wearing a GPS, I secretly hoped the finish line was around every turn. During the last mile, I dropped the high schooler and was running alone. I hit the third mile in 6:36. To be honest, I laughed a little but because it was slower than many of my speed workouts as well as half marathon miles.
I crossed the finish line in exactly 19:30 and as first female overall. I wasn’t upset or excited at the time. I had done exactly what I needed to do and to be honest; I’m not sure my body would have allowed me to go much faster anyways. It stinks to be ending 2015 on this note, but there will be plenty more races in 2016.
I did win a neat ornament that was pretty cool.
Questions for you:
How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
What is your favorite race distance?
I like that they gave you an ornament! I also love when you beat high school boys 🙂 We have a “formal” tree that is all matchy matchy. Once we have a bigger house, I’d like to do the formal tree in the dining room or office and the fun tree in the family room. My favorite race distance….probably a 5k, cause its short-ish 🙂 I do like unusual race distances though. I’d love to find more of those. They are a challenge to figure out a strategy for!
First female, well done! Lovely ornament too 😀
I decorated my tree with medals! Well, one tree. The other tree is family ornaments that were passed down from my grandma as well as our own personal ornaments we bought from travelling, etc. We buy an ornament every time we go on a trip. I love that you won an ornament and have seen those fun running ornaments in our Fleet Feet store.
Congrats on first place female overall even if it wasn’t a pretty race. You did the best you could for that given day, and that’s really all you can ask for.
I saw that and that was such a neat idea!
I would be very happy with a 19:30! Sometimes holding back is the hardest part, but break job and what I fun prize!
5k all the way… Anything longer than that is a struggle for me, but I’m excited to work on that this year. It’s mentally a lot harder to run a 5k like that (getting slower each mile). I hope the next race you have goes the opposite way! We decorated our tree with an eclectic mix of ornaments we have collected over the years plus white lights. I love some of the really old ones that we have from when Pete and I were little. I do have one ornament from a race (from the Surf N Santa race a few years ago) and it’s one of my favorites! 🙂
I love a 4 miler. Less pressure than a 5K but still short.
(and there are tons of them in Central Park)
I love that you do so many runs! I decorate my tree with a mish-mash of ornaments I’ve obtained over the years. I’ve only ever done a 5k so that’s all I can say.
My favorite race distance is probably a 10k because it’s long enough that I can really “train” for it and challenge myself but not too long!
Congrats on first female!! That’s so awesome!
Neat ornament! There’s no doubt 2016 will be a big year for you.