I'm here! Happy Monday!!
And happy to report that the first training run couldn't have been more of a success!
I set my alarm for 6:30am to make sure I had plenty of time to get ready and to pack myself up. I got out and put on all of my warmest running gear, grabbed my bib, headphones and my gloves. Threw a change of clothes and shoes, and a towel in a bag, (the weather was forecasting a 40% chance of rain!) grabbed myself a cup of coffee and hit the road. The nice part about driving downtown at 7:30am on a Saturday? No traffic. How refreshing!
You know what else was refreshing? The fact that my car was reading 37 degrees outside. In Indiana that is practically a heat wave. I was already feeling so thankful. Running in the cold is not my favorite! I'm kind of a wuss.
Anyway, I made it downtown with plenty of time to spare so I sipped on my coffee while I pinned on my bib and rocked out to some
JT before heading to the starting line.
I was so excited to see all of the people there. I had no idea what to expect as far as the size of the crowd. I believe I read that about three hundred or so people registered ahead of time and with race day registrations the number went up to more than five hundred! I was loving it. The music was playing and people were standing around stretching, warming up and starting to get lined up.
Anyone that runs races knows that feeling of being surrounded by the crowd, just waiting to start. Its really kind of electrifying. I love that feeling!!
Two minutes before the start and everyone is really lining up. Waiting. AND...it wasn't raining! The streets were wet but there was not a single drop falling from the sky. SO LUCKY.
Then the race started. I haven't run outside since the
Drumstick Dash in November so I knew I needed to take it easy and really watch my breathing. 3 miles is a long time to try and catch your breath! Once I get in a steady breathing rhythm, I'm usually good to go. I was trying to keep a slower pace, but kept looking at my watch and I was in the 10's. That's so fast for me. I was a little worried that I'd push too hard, too fast and run out of gas. But I kept going!
This photo below was taken while completely trying not to dance while listening to
B.O.B. I cannot help but speed up and dance...literally while listening to this song. Such a great song to run to! And the girl in the pink-ish color... I was just trying to keep her in my sights. She seemed like a pretty easy target to follow... kept me moving!
I was maybe between the 1.5-2 miles when the winners passed me going in the opposite direction. Apparently the first guy finished in 17:28 and the first woman in 19:32...that's a 5:38 and 6:18 pace. That is seriously insane!
I honestly felt really great and not cold at all. The rain held off and I was even feeling the slightest bit warm inside my hoodie and vest. But anyone that has run with me knows that towards the end, even if I feel like I'm running out of steam... I will push it and try to finish really strong. So I took the speed up a notch and pushed it. With that I had to literally fight a side cramp for the last half a mile but it was totally worth it. I kicked it into the highest gear I could for the last .1 and ended up passing a handful of people before crossing the finish line.
I could hardly breathe and my side was killing me but I already felt so strong and proud!!
That's probably the fastest 5k I've ever completed. I have never pushed myself like that before and it honestly felt pretty amazing.
After crossing the finish line, the wonderful volunteers gave us bottles of water, bananas and snacks. Just like an actual race. I'm so glad I signed up for these. I stepped aside to guzzle some water and catch my breath. Once I did, a nice girl actually came up to me and said she was actually keeping pace with me... she was following me to keep her pace?! That's never happened before in my life! Woah. Kind of made me feel like a for real runner.
The race was one of my best, the atmosphere was pretty amazing and there were some pretty good people all around. I am looking forward to the 10k training race on March 1st. I'll just keep running until then and hopefully will have another positive experience to report!!
With all of that said, here are my official stats. I still cannot believe how fast I finished, this is huge for me! Talk about something to help my motivation to continue!!
How was everyone's weekend? Did you get out there and run?!
I hope others got to experience the runner's high. That is a legit feeling... Ah. I am so loving it.
Here's to a great week and some great miles coming our way!
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