Friday, July 5, 2013

Independence Day 5K

I decided to wake up early on the 4th and run a 5K.

I had no idea what was going to happen, mainly since I've only gone running 3 times since my marathon on June 2nd.  I could see it going really well, keeping some of my endurance up over the month.  I could see it going horribly, basically losing everything I gained while marathon training.


I checked in, got my sweet shirt, and got ready for the starting line.  I won a pair of cheap sunglasses because I knew a trivia answer of who won the men's lacrosse NCAA championship (UNC).

Ready... Set... Go!

I took a deep breath and started trotting.  It started with a big downhill, so I got to pick up some speed and test the breathing.  I felt really good, but hoped that it would last.  First mile- still felt great.  It was a nice course that looped around the streets of Highlands Ranch.  Then, it hooked onto a walking trail that cut through the meadow.  Beautiful!  Then, it got hard.  There were a few tough hills that took the breath out of everyone, causing a lot of people to walk.  I was thrilled that I still felt great and didn't have to!  After a few uphills, then we rounded the final corner of the race, and could see the finish line - a quarter mile ahead and all uphill.  Normally, I make a big sprint to the finish.  Not today - the hill neutralized any burst I had left.  I picked up a little speed, gritted my teeth, and just started at the finish line, watching it get closer and closer.

Official Time:  28:29

I'm super happy with this time!  The next few months I'm going to focus on hitting a better time, but this was a test.  I haven't really lost anything, even though I haven't been running and haven't been eating very well.  I felt great, especially considering it was a tough course.  It got me excited to keep going and get ready for the next one!


No comments:

Post a Comment