5K recap

A week ago today I ran the Bluenose 5K run…. which coincidentally fell on the same day as my 28th birthday.

That was a good/not so good thing for me.  I was super excited to do the run ON my birthday however there were several events leading up to the race that prevented me from training and other events that did not help me physically in the race! (Hello, birthday drinking!)

At any rate the day was fantastic!  It was a beautiful and HOT sunny day which helped keep me in good spirits!  Yay, spring is here & summer is just around the corner!

We had a great group of spectators cheering us on: Jen, Cat, Angie, Jaime, and my boyfriend Dave. 

A few of us girls ran/walked the 5K: myself, Les, Lynn & Tash.  We also had a few visitors from out of province:  Tara ran the 10k and Marie ran the 1/2.

Pre-race we headed out to Les’s house who did a fantastic job hosting the carb-loading dinner.  Spaghetti with some salads.  mmm!  I was up later than I’d hope to be that night but I didn’t want to miss out on spending time with the ladies.  As soon as I got home I got my race day gear all laid out which was a great idea since:

a) I am forgetful and

b) I am NOT a morning person!

I knew it was going to be a warm-ish day but I didn’t know how warm it was going to get.  I ran in a lulu tank, Nike shorts, my Zensah compression leg sleeves and a lulu headband.  It was hard for Dave to see me running since I was all in black with only a little bit of my pink sportsbra showing and the spandex part of my shorts was pink.

Waking up that Sunday morning I was slow-going.  The late night and busy birthday weekend had really gotten to me.  As excited as I was for the race, a bigger part of me just wanted to enjoy sleeping in on my birthday!  Finally I rolled out of bed, had a sip of coffee and got ready to go!

We met up with the crew (less Tara & Marie who were already off & running) at Starbucks then made our way over to the starting line.  The energy at the race was incredible!

 

All of the people lined up for the 5K were eager to get started and I fed off of everyone’s energy!  I got goosebumps when I heard Eye of the Tiger playing.  This is it!  We’re finally here!

Les & I were quite a ways back in the lineup so it took us a few minutes to cross the starting line but when we did we were off!  The race starts with a minor incline and there were still tonnes of people finding their pace so it was a bit discombobulated.  Thankfully Les squeezed her way in and out of people so I followed.  She was running at a quicker pace and kept looking back at me, but I had to shoo her to go!  Run girl run!  Don’t worry about me!  I know that girl can give’er and I am a much slower runner so I wanted her to give it what she had and not worry about me!

Once she left I was alone with myself and was doing alright.  Then dehydration started to set in (thank you alcohol….) along with the temperature rising outside and it started to get tough.  The first water station was fairly early in the game (I THINK it was about 1.5km in I could be way off though) but I grabbed that cup o’ water and chugged it down.  It was after the 1st water station where I started to take my walk breaks.  The heat was seriously getting to me and I could tell how dehydrated I was because I felt like I was foaming at the mouth.  I was chewing gum at the same time (still not sure if this was a good thing) which seemed to help keep my mouth moist but it was a temporary fix.  When we hit 2km we were at a straightaway on a street that offered a lot of shade thanks to the large puffy trees.  The shade was welcomed but I was hurting for more water.  It was during this stretch were I really took many walk breaks.  In hindsight I think back and wonder if I could have pushed myself through it a bit more because here’s where I lost a LOT of time. 

The only route marker I noticed during the whole race was the 2km flag.  The rest was kind of a blur and I had no idea how much longer I had to go.  I did have Garmin set up to finish me in 35minutes so I watched my pace, but when I realized my pace kept getting slower than my target pace I think I got a little discouraged.  I would run a few minutes and catch up, but be panting and foaming at the mouth so bad (or what felt like it anyway LOL) that I ended up walking more than I’d hoped.  There were groups of women nearby that I used as my own pacers.  I tried to stay behind them or jump ahead of them when I could.  This helped because I knew I wasn’t getting too far behind.  I never really set out to ‘pass’ anyone and gain time because my head couldn’t stop thinking about how thirsty I was. 

The second water station came up and I guzzled that down which seemed to temporarily help.  It wasn’t too far after the 2nd water station where I saw the finish line… and I saw the incline it was on.

For most, this really wasn’t much of an incline but for me, my body was hurting, my legs were jello and I was ridiculously dehydrated at this point.  I knew I wanted to finish running rather than walking so I took advantage of a walk before the final stretch then pushed to finish strong. 

I remember seeing the finish line and just beyond that I saw the start line.  My head was so messed at this point and I started to think that someone would play tricks on us and have us run THROUGH the first red sign (finish) only to have to keep going and actually finish at the second red sign (the actual start).  My thoughts were nonsense at this point.

Thankfully the finish line WAS, in fact, the finish line and I ran through it.  As soon as I ran though I saw Les who came up to give me a hug.  I don’t know what happened but I wanted to burst out crying.  I was hurting, hot, dehydrated and exhausted.  Also a little disappointed in myself for not being able to push through it more.  I held in my tears and didn’t cry and Les reminded me that it doesn't matter what my time was…. I FINISHED IT.

She was so right.

My time was 39:40 but my actual chip time was 36:29.  My goal was to do it in 35 minutes or less but I psyched myself out during the race when I saw my pace was too slow… which I think made me give up a little.

Boo.

I’m still thrilled that I finished it.  I really had a lot of fun and I want to do it again.

Here are my results:

Place 931
Time 39:40.9
Chip 36:29.0
Category Women 20-29
Category Place 131/194
Gender Place 612/980

Garmin had me finish 3.11miles in 44minutes so I’m not too sure what the difference was there.  I didn’t stop Garmin at the finish line but I definitely didn't start it until I crossed the starting line.

I can’t wait for the next one.

I was so full of energy after the race.  We went into Lululemon and I was going to treat myself to something, but I didn’t have my wallet with me and it was crazy busy so we left.

It was on this walk where I decided I wanted to celebrate my birthday and have a drink.

So, we went for breakfast and with my eggs, hashbrowns, perogies & bacon I enjoyed a nice cool, refreshing Ceasar.  Mmmmmmm.

I could feel the alcohol running through me and this helped to calm me down a little and also helped me go for a relaxing afternoon snooze.

I have decided to start from scratch and start a whole new learn to run training plan.  This one starts off with a LOT more walking which I am going to use to take advantage of just enjoying getting outside, as well as use to get used to the hills in my area.  Most of my previous 5K training was done indoors but after running the race I could tell my body was thinking “F-U” because of the crazy differences! 

There is a race in the valley in October (10-10-10) and my training plan should have me finishing a 10k race right around that time so I have a few months to train my arse up, mentally prep myself and do that 10K.

I’m doing it.