Running For Life 5k Race

How did the race go?.... Well,

I finished!

That's the good news.

The AWESOME news is that I finished in 42:55 (unofficially). Which is about 4minutes faster than the 5k I ran in December! Hot Diggity Dog! Also, it is right within my goal time. 

Yay me!

I woke up at 7 and even though I had all of my clothes laid out, I still had to grab a towel and a change of clothes because it was POURING outside. (Second 5k I've had to run in the freezing rain. Gotta love it.) My friend Chris met me at my house and my dad drove us to the park where the race was being held. I managed to have half a banana and a 100 calorie bagel in the car but completely forgot about hydrating beforehand (note to self for next race). It was cold out but it had slowed to a soft misting by the time we got to the race- though it did go back to pouring right around the time the race started.

As we pulled into a parking spot to go register we looked around and realized there was NO ONE to be found! We drove around for a bit longer, searching for the registration tent and/or people, when we finally found it all the way down the road. It seems they were running behind schedule; they had just finished getting everything set up as we walked over. Chris and I were the first ones to get our number bibs and chips (hooray punctuality). They also gave us these awesome tech shirts with their logo and race name on them, (I know normally 5k races give out just regular tees, but these were super awesome!) we grabbed all of our stuff then we headed back to the car to keep warm and dry.

 Two freezing cold, but smiling, excited runners!

The kids race was supposed to start at 9am, but it ended up starting at 10am (when the adults were supposed to go) and we started about 10minutes or so after them.  

Look at them go! That boy in the front has BOTH feet off the ground!

Chris and I, naturally, headed to the back because we knew we were going to be slower than most runners. (I don't know if it was the weather or if there was just a lack of participants this year, but I'd have to say not that many people ran.)We kept up a good pace for awhile, but then it kind of went downhill...

Oh! There we are (I'm in blue and Chris is next to me in black)

I had a rough run, even though I did make good time. The cold air was wreaking havoc on my lungs and my legs felt weak. Around mile 3 I got a massive cramp in my right side. Needless to say, I ended up doing a lot more walking then I had anticipated. When we hit the first mile marker and the volunteer told us we were at 13:30, I almost ran back and kissed him! I was so excited to hear that, he made my day! Our second mile was 15:30 (we hit it at 29:00 exactly, which means our last mile was a little under 14:00. YAY!) At one point, a female police officer came riding up, asking if we were the last of the runners. When we told her we were, she wished us luck and then offered us a ride back if we wanted to cheat. HA! I almost took her up on it, but decided not to and kept running. Chelsea was a darling and came out to cheer us on and take some photos for me (she was completely soaked, poor thing!). 

 Check out that major heel strike we have going on. Ouch!

Running the straight away to the finish line!

We crossed the finish line at 42:55, where they promptly untied my shoelaces to get the chip back. Good thing they got the chip for me, because after booking it down the straight away, I wasn't going to be able to bend down and then bring myself back upright again. Even though I had pushed it for that last stretch, I still recovered rather quickly and managed to snag a banana, some oranges (and a donut- shh!) after the race before heading to go change into dry clothes. Chelsea snapped one last photo of Chris and I, right after we crossed the finish line

We were rather soaked and very tired, but we still managed to strike a pose (holding up our finish time nonetheless!)

All in all, it was a great day. I hit my goal mark, Chris kept me feeling positive (I have a tendency to get rather negative during a race apparently- though I'm fine when I'm doing training runs... go figure) and even though we were the very last people to finish, we still DID finish, and that's what is important! This race gave me high hopes for my next 5k in two weeks. Here's hoping it doesn't rain for that one as well!