First 5K Recap
Posted: April 16, 2011 at 1:38 pmI did it! I did it! I did it!!
And you can safely say that I will race again. I understand the hype and addiction to running and racing even more now. So. Much. Fun!!!
First, let’s back up though. Friday night I made sure to do as much prep work as possible. I packed up stuff for the kiddos to spend the morning with their grandma. I laid out all the things I needed. I pulled out the trusty boob pump. What? You don’t have to do a pumping session as part of your race morning prep? Lucky.
Then, I hit the hay by 9 pm to be up and at ‘em by 5 am. I checked the weather, got dressed, and ate my breakfast – whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter and half a chocolate chip cookie dough Larabar.
I can’t remember the last time I ate breakfast at 5:30 am. So early!
We made it to the race venue at around 6:45. The nerves and excitement had started setting in by this point. Shortly after getting there, I met up with Lee, which helped calm me down a bit..
We walked around, took our bathroom break, and chatted before heading to the start line. Then, suddenly, the time had come and we were off. I made sure to follow all of your advice and keep a steadier pace for my first mile. I finished my first mile at an 8:26 pace and felt great. From there, I decided to pick it up a little bit and hit mile 2 with an 8:10 pace. When I noticed that I was only at 16:36, the thought of finishing under 26:00 as a possibility hit me. I could barely believe it! And I knew I wanted to give my all and see what would happen.
When I had about a 1/2 mile left, I started feeling pretty tired. I could see the final turn up ahead and told myself I could do anything for just a few more minutes. I kept going. I just went for it and ran.
25:12!!!!! I did NOT know I had that in me. Seriously. No clue. It felt so amazing to cross that finish line and see Stacy and Kristy there cheering me on. I could not find Peter, but just knowing he was there meant the world to me too. I turned in my time slip and then headed to the finish line to cheer Lee on as she came up. Lee accomplished her goal of PR’ing which was awesome to see.
After the race, we chatted a bit more with Stacy & Kristy before they had to head off for the 10K portion. Then, I grabbed some snacks – a mini smoothie cup, some Starbucks coffee, a mini coffee cake and mini brownie.
Hey, I can’t turn down free food. Peter, Lee, & I decided to hang out for the raffles and awards too. Lee won a Brita water bottle prize pack.
We were both really hoping for the random umbrella and Clorox bucket of supplies they were giving away though. 😉 Ha!
Suddenly it was time for the awards for the various age groups. Peter & I almost left before this, but I wanted to stay a bit more to chat with Lee before heading out. I’m glad I did because guess what? I placed third in the women’s 25-29 age group! Ummmm…how?! I was literally in shock.
And excited for the totally unexpected surprise. Talk about a great first race! Even though I know not every race will end like this one (or even close!), I still look forward to many future races. This may have been the first, but certainly won’t be the last.
- What was a “fitness high” you felt recently?
- Check out Lee’s, Kristy’s, and Stacy’s blogs to say hello and hear their recaps! They are awesome blog friends!
Tags: 5K race, blog friends, running
AHHH CONGRATULATIONS!! You are ABSOLUTELY AMAZING and you look so so gorgeous doing it:) Racing is addicting…..be careful ha:)
Congrats, Tina!! You did sooooo amazing!!
Congrats! What a great first race!
Congrats! Way to go 🙂
Amazing!!!! Congrats girl. I knew you would be amazing and now you have a plaque to prove it! So happy for you.
YAY! huge congrats! and a plaque!? that’s awesome
Congratulations, Tina! I’m so excited for you – your love for running and now racing has taken off so quickly. I feel like the same thing happened to me. I’ve never raced a 5K though. My half marathon PR was a great fitness high, and I’m loving some power yoga lately. It’s SO invigorating.
Congrats on the awesome 5K! It sounds like you had a lot of fun and that you’re hooked on that runner’s high!
Lately I’ve been getting a fitness high from my new strength/cardio routines- at the end I really feel like I put my all into my workouts!
Isn’t that such a great feeling? I love mixing cardio and strength for an awesome workout. 🙂
GO YOU!!! That is a great time, especially for your first race! Can’t wait to see what else you sign up for!
You are beyond awesome! Amazing time!!
waaay to go!!! :)))
That is amazing!!! Congrats.
Congrats again hun!!! So proud of you!
I am soooo excited to read about your race. You did AWESOME! Congrats on an awesome accomplishment.
Racing a 5k and winning an ag award so soon after having a baby…That is truly amazing and inspiring. Congrats Tina!
You better keep racing! You clearly have a knack for it.
Congrats! You are awesome and I knew after hearing about your awesome training times that you were going to rock it! Great job!
Congratulations! That’s so great. Racing is very addicting!
Congratulations!! Great time too, really making me want to find a 5K to finally sign up to run!
Amazing Tina!!! Congrats on finishing your first 5k, and even better finishing it fast and strong!!! I live with an 8 week old and new mom now… I TOTALLY get the breast pump prep even though I don’t have to do it myself 😛
Fantastic!! Congrats Tina!
Great job Tina! So happy for you! 🙂
oh my gosh, congratulations!!! what a great great super great time!! and so cool that you ended up placing!!!
Getting caught up on reading – CONGRATS Tina! How exciting.
Getting caught up from the weekend..
CONGRATS!!!!! I’m sooo glad your race went well. That’s AWESOME!! You should be so so proud of yourself!!! Welcome to the world of running 🙂
[…] It sounded perfect to me! Nice race and a perfect distance to fit into half marathon training. Just a few weeks out from my half, I knew having something fun thrown into the mix for a long run would help a lot. Plus, I love doing races with Lee! She even accompanied me on my very first race ever. […]