As backwards as it is, I raced my first 5k on Saturday. I have ran a couple Race for the Cures, but they were fun runs and were special to me in a different way. I raced 4k’s back in the teenage years, but those hardly count. I can assure you I was probably faster back then.
This race came about months ago when one my BFF’s asked me about joining her and some of her friends for this 5k. Sign me up! It was sort of an afterthought for most of the summer because my main focus was on The Bear Water Run 10 mile. I knew that spending time training for that would keep me in shape for a 5k. Well, after that race I haven’t been as speedy as I wanted to be. I came down with a cold last week to top it off. I had zero expectations going into the race on Saturday morning.
Before the start. I didn’t get the sunglasses memo.
It was a beautiful day for a race on Saturday. It was just above freezing when I woke up, so knowing that it would warm up I went with shorts and a long sleeve shirt. In hindsight, I probably should have worn capris. I met up with my friends and we waited near the start line. I went ahead and joined up with the running crowd and they fell back towards the area with the walkers.
The start was a little frustrating because it was pretty tight and there were a lot of slower runners at the front of the pack. No big deal – I understand it’s a 5k and all, but it did cause me to do some bobbing and weaving the first 1/2 mile or so. It was an out and back course that started uphill and ended with a gradual downhill. After about the first 1/2 mile without a single cough, I felt like I could go a little faster and decided to go with it. The coolest part of the out and back was seeing the lead pack come back at me. The winner of this race? Fellow Minnesotan Carrie Tollefson. She looked effortless running her sub 6 minute miles hanging with the college dudes. Definitely inspired me to pick it up a little.
Long story short, my first mile was way too slow, even in my not trained, sickly state. The second and third were more on par with what I had wanted to do the whole course.
From Garmin:
Mile 1: 8:15
Mile 2: 7:46
Mile 3: 7:26
.1 nubbin: :54
Total: 24:22
Official deets:
Chip time was 24:20
25-29F: 5/229
Females: 31/1137
Overall: 185/1820
Pace: 7:41
Always a beautiful finish. The same finish line as the Marathon.
Overall I was happy with how I did despite not being in my best shape and being sick. I did enjoy this race and I recommend it to anyone. It was welcoming to all abilities of runners, walkers, and kids. And I had a great time being able to do this with my friends. It definitely got me excited to actually train for a 5k in the future. I enjoyed the 10k distance a lot and could see myself enjoying these just as much.
