Labor Day 5k

Travis and I got to run a Labor Day 5k yesterday. Of course, our race photographer, Megan, came to support us. The race was for a local Middle School raising money for their orchestra. The orchestra was playing in the field before the race, and they also had a small ensemble playing along the race route. It was really neat. Reminded me of my orchestra days back in Intermediate school. And made me feel a little bad for not getting out my violin in a really long time...

Moving on. My goal for this race was to get a PR. Like always. My last 5k I got a PR, but it was kind of a bad run for me. Really hot and not much training going in to it. So I was thinking I would be able to PR this time. Oh yeah, my training has really made a turn for the better since my last training update. I'm feeling really comfortable and enjoying running every day now. I'm positive it had something to do with the weather. I can usually start off my runs in the high 60's or low 70's these days. And it just keeps getting better! Anyway, the temps for our 5k started probably in the 60's and we were definitely in the 70's by the time we left.

Here we are waiting for the start. A small race again. Maybe 130 or so for the 5k. And it started in the grass. We didn't know this until we got there. Ugh. I asked one of the volunteers how long we were in grass and he said we pretty much just run around the school on the grass, then it would take us to the pavement. I could handle that.

And we're off. I started off right in the front like I always do at these small races. And after about 3 seconds this always happens. I get passed (I'm in the red hat, gray shirt). I wanted to run my first mile comfortably fast. At my last 5k, I ran the first mile as fast as I could and I was paying for it later. I did not want to repeat that. I ended up getting to mile 1 in exactly 7 minutes. I felt okay, but was really nervous about not being able to keep it up, so I slowed down. Good thing, too, because the pavement we got on soon turned to dirt and gravel. Okay, I can handle that. After about a mile it then turned into soft dirt. Like running on the beach. What? Yeah, that was not fun. I guess it would have been okay if I had been aware of it before the race. My mind was just not ready for it. It ended up being okay and we got back onto the pavement for the last bit. At mile 2 I knew I was keeping a good pace and would probably PR. I definitely sped it up when I turned a corner and saw the school (where the finish line was). When I got close enough that I could see the time at the finish line, it read 23:50. Oh man, I knew I had the PR, but now I really wanted to get under 24:00. So I kicked it into high gear.



Here's a picture of me kicking it into high gear. Yeah, not that impressive.

I whipped it through the finish at 23:57!!! I was the 18th finisher, the 2nd female, and the 1st in my age group. And a PR! Woo-hoo!

Here are the official results. Megan stands at the finish line waiting as everyone comes through and records who comes in first, how many men, how many women, etc. She's done this a few times and I wanted to get a picture of it this time. The 23:58 actually turned out to be 23:57. Sweet.

Yes, I was happy.

Travis also had a much better race than the hot, sticky one in May. Here he is coming in to the finish--blue and red.

He was really just wanting to beat the girl in the pink shirt. They kept passing each other throughout the race. :) Great job, Travis!

We decided to stick around for the awards ceremony. This is when it started getting hot.

I got my 2nd place medal and we headed home.

Thanks, Megan, for coming to support us again!

I don't have any other races planned until Goblin Valley. Since I finally got under 24 minutes for the 5k, I think I might want to start focusing on the 10k. It's weird, but I've only done one 10k I think. It's just that the 5k is so much fun. I guess it's because the pain is over quickly. :)