Last weekend I ran the Frostbite 5 miler. To be honest, I hadn’t treated my body well the week before. Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays, and I like to celebrate with sugar. It doesn’t have to be a fancy date, but I’ll be the first to tell you I didn’t make healthy choices.
I have always wanted to do the Frostbite 5 miler. It’s competitive race as well as challenging course too.
My husband and I arrived at the race a little later than anticipated and I got about 2-mile warmup in. I would have preferred a little longer, but took what I could get. As I was delayering at the start; the race went off. I panicked threw my long sleeve off and sprinted out. I was boxed in, but I was able to run on the outside and slowly progress where I wanted. The first mile I went out fast trying to get to a better spot.
I had no idea what place I was in, and I didn’t care. I made an arbitrary goal of under 31 minutes for 5 miles. 6:10 was fast, but I thought my fitness was there. I hit the first mile in 5:57.
During the second mile, I settled in a good rhythm and was going back and forth with another local female runner. I gathered I was in the top ten of women which was cool with me. We hit the second mile in 5:51 and I knew I was not going to hold that forever.
The next two miles climbed several hills. We did makeup with downhills, but the long hills definitely took their toll on my quads. Every uphill my friend would pass me, and downhills I would run by her. Ultimately she passed me and never looked back. We hit both miles in 6:14.
The last mile was almost all uphill and my legs were not in the mood to climb anything else. I kept looking at my watch and hoping the race would finish soon. The final mile felt like it took forever, but I finished in 6:05 and crossed the finish in 30:25. I was 6th women overall.
I’m happy, and pleasantly surprised with my finish. My goal had been under 31 and with the rolling hills, I can’t complain. Technically I also ran an 18:35 5k which is my fastest 5k in a while too. It feels good to be coming back to fitness.
Questions for you:
What’s your favorite distance to race?
Do you run downhills or uphills better?
My fave distance is 1/2 Marathon. I like 8K, too! Congrats on a strong 5 miler!!
Dang. A 30:25 got you 6th woman? That is a fast field. Super impressive!
I like a 10k distance for sure. It’s short enough to run at high speed, but long enough that I don’t have to fight off so many young cross country runners.
Congrats on your race Hollie! I agree with Ralph, that seems like a super speedy field, BUT I like races like that, it pushes me hard to run my best. Hope you’ve had a good recovery this week and I totally feel ya with the Valentine’s day candies!