I’ve run the Aquarium of the Pacific 5K four times now. In 2026, it seems that it was the correct distance because it was a slow showing, yet I displayed one of my faster times. I digress. I’ve talked about it often, but getting bronchitis has really played a role in my fall training. Even though I was diagnosed in early August, it has lingered, and it has been really disappointing. When I do hard efforts, it can sometimes feel like I’m breathing through a straw. That’s kind of what happened here.
Before the Aquarium of the Pacific 5K:
I’ve been stressed at work, so I took Friday off and had a totally and completely relaxing weekend, complete with me getting to Long Beach at noon, walking the quarter of a mile to pick up my bibs, and relaxing in the hotel the rest of the evening. My goal for the weekend was complete relaxation, and I achieved that. I got about 10 hours of sleep before the race, and it was wonderful. I did about a 2-mile warmup and got to the Aquarium of the Pacific 5K start line with plenty of time to spare.
Aquarium of the Pacific 5K:
The Aquarium of the Pacific 5K race start was at 6:50, and off we went. I thought I felt pretty good, and my first mile was 6:01. That’s faster than any other time I’ve run this race, and I was like, wow, this could be the time I break 19 on a course. I was feeling good.
Unfortunately, shortly after, it became harder for me to breathe. The first mile of the Aquarium of the Pacific 5K is completely flat. There are turns, but it’s nice and flat. Because I’m running both Houston and London, I’ve been working on making my runs as flat as possible. I’m someone who likes hills, and it’s fairly hilly in the desert, but I’ve been trying to prepare more by doing those flat runs. That doesn’t help me, though, when I have any race with any amount of elevation.
By the end of mile 1, I was running with three other women who were the three women who podiumed. I was feeling pretty good and excited. As we began to climb the bridge, I knew that my breathing was off. I started to get super disappointed by it and just kept trucking along. I hit mile 2 in 6:40, and I knew that running the time I wanted and podiuming were probably off the table. I kept trying to remind myself it would be okay, but I was so frustrated with the bronchitis. It felt like I was breathing through a straw and I was barely able to hold onto the 6:40..which I’ve done multiple workouts faster than that.
The third mile of the Aquarium of the Pacific 5K goes back down and through the Aquarium. It’s always so fun to finish the race through the Aquarium and pop out at the Aquarium of the Pacific 5K finish line. I ran a 6:46, but due to running indoors, we lost a little bit of GPS, so it was likely slightly more than a mile.
I crossed the Aquarium of the Pacific 5K finish line in 20:27 and as 4th female overall.
Aquarium of the Pacific 5K Thoughts:
Truthfully, I am disappointed. More disappointed with how I felt and how bronchitis still lingers because I know I am in good shape. After the race, my legs didn’t really feel like I had worked that hard, which is a good sign for fitness but an annoying sign that I could have run faster. The next day, I ended up running my fastest Long Beach half, so that is a good sign.
You can see Strava here and all race recaps here.
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Questions for you:
What was the last race you ran that didn’t go according to plan?
Have you ever run inside a building a during a race?