Race season is off to an EXCELLENT start! The Rock N Run 5K was so much fun.
The weather was perfect, and we had a big, supportive group of friends running together. I did not set a new PR (personal record), but I wasn’t expecting to (my 5K PR is 23:46). I crossed the finish line in 26:20, pacing a respectable 8:20/mile. Wahoo!
Most of all, this race was FUN!
My morning started insanely early. I was up at 5:00 AM. I like to have enough time to have a real breakfast, stretch, listen to music…. being rushed on race mornings is the worst. I stuck to my traditional pre-race breakfast, which is PB toast with a banana and coffee:
Megan and her boyfriend Jason picked me up at 6:05 and we drove to the race, where we met up with all the other couples:
Kelly and Anthony:
And Meghann and Derek:
The Husband couldn’t make it (he’s in Palm Coast with our family — I’m actually heading there later today, too), but he was there in spirit! 🙂
I was pretty nervous and excited before the race. My heart was thumping out of my chest and I kept jogging in place. It was happy energy, though. It just feels SO GOOD to be running and racing again (I was out for a few months due to injury). I am TRULY thankful for EVERY SINGLE MILE that I get to run, and I will never, ever take a race for granted again. Running is so special to me.
I stretched like crazy before the start, which helped me get rid of some of my nerves:
My plan for the race was just to run as fast as I could and have a good time. As I mentioned, I wasn’t too bothered with a specific time goal because I felt undertrained for speed, anyway. I checked out the course map before we started and was pleased to see a nice, shady route:
I lined up at the starting line with the 8-minute/mile group and stood next to Kelly. We both kept looking at each other with huge stupid grins on our faces.
The gun went off and I hightailed it out the gate! I paced around 7:30-mile for the first mile or so. I knew I would burn out going at that pace, but I wanted to give myself a decent starting time.
This race has two funny stories that greatly impacted my overall time.
Funny story #1: I changed my Garmin this morning to show my overall time, distance, pace, AND time of the day. My pace used to be in the same spot the time of day is now in. So, for the first 2.5-miles, I thought I was pacing 7:35, 7:36, 7:37, 7:38-minute miles…. hahaha. I was AMAZED at how good I felt and visions of setting a record started to swim in my head.
Needless to say, when I FINALLY figured out that my "pace" was really the TIME, I felt pretty ridiculous! :) Oops.
Funny story #2: None-runners might be kind of grossed out by this story. It’s a little TMI, so excuse me in advance. Around mile 1.5, I was struck by the urge to pee. As you may know, your body deems certain biological functions to be ‘unnecessary’ when you are running really fast, and bladder contractions tend to fall into this category. I ended up dashing into an alley, but I stood up a little early and managed to pee all over my own leg. I lost a good 45 seconds as a result. Megan actually had the EXACT SAME ISSUE. We’re twins!
By the time I got to the finish line, I was just relieved it was over!
Regardless of these slip ups (which, trust me, I’m still laughing about), I managed to pull out a great finishing time and a wonderful overall pace.
- Mile 1: 7:35
- Mile 2: 8:17
- Mile 3: 9:14
- Mile 3 – 0.16 (course was a little long!): 1:15
- Average Pace: 8:20
- Overall Time: 26:20
Everyone did great and so many people set new PR times! Check out Megan, Meghann, Katy, and Kelly‘s blogs for their own recaps.
It was a very fun way to kick off the season! I’m very proud of everyone. As I mentioned, I really believe there are NO BAD RACES so even though there were some minor slip ups, I still had a great time.
I came home and eat three of the mini pumpkin muffins that Megan gave me. I also had a Green Monster (spinach, almond milk, and ice).
I feel refueled and happy. 🙂 Off to shower and hit the road — as mentioned, I’m headed to my in-laws to welcome my sister-in-law to America!
Have a fabulous day!
Great job on the race and understand your 2 little mishaps, too funny!
Love your stories and great way to start your race season!