First 5K race of the year: check!

I’ve run this race before twice, and I’m glad I was able to do it again. It’s a local one that runs through a neighborhood, so it’s always a good time. I ran it with my friend Katie and her son ended up joining us this year.

I was a bit worried about the forecast in the days leading up to the race on Saturday morning because the weather was looking like rain/sleet/snow and chilly. Not ideal. Thankfully, the yuckiness held off until the afternoon after the race was over.

We got to the high school where the race starts around 9:45 a.m. since the race kicks off at 10:00 a.m. Well, that’s for the 10K folks aka the gym class heroes. They send us 5K runners out a few minutes after.

I had only run a few times prior to this race, so my goal was to just finish and not finish last. I knew there would be people solely walking the course, so I wanted to finish before them. I always have my running belt on and I carry my inhaler in there so I can use it before the race, and if I need it after because of my asthma. Thankfully I only used it beforehand; the air was cold so I wasn’t sure how badly my asthma would flair up.

Shortly after 10:00 a.m. we were off. Katie and her son were going to run/walk together, so we did get separated for the race itself. I tried to pace myself starting out since I knew most of it was flat and then would have a downhill section after mile 1. I ran the first mile and then slowed to walk a bit. I try to only walk .10 of a mile, maybe .15 if I really need to, before starting to run again. I ran almost all of the second mile before stopping to walk. There was a water stop around the second mile but I didn’t stop. Since I’ve run this race twice before, I know there’s a hill just after the 2.5 mile mark. And I always try to run up the whole thing but I had to walk up it a bit. Darn hills. After that, it’s flat and then downhill and up a tiny hill to the finish line.

I always sprint the last little bit to the finish line so I feel like I actually accomplished something—I mean, I did regardless. I became that person who runs 5Ks for fun. Why? The jury is still out.

Like last year, there were funny signs throughout the course, like “Remember you paid to do this,” “You look hot when you sweat,” and “A hill is like a break-up, you get over it in the end.” I also enjoy that the course does go through a neighborhood and people sit out in their driveways to cheer us on. There weren’t as many people outside this year as last year, probably because of the weather, but there were people out to cheer us on; I also saw a bunch of dogs.

There was a photographer standing just beyond the finish line, so of course I had to give thumbs up.

Last year we could only download one image but this year it seemed like multiple downloads, which I was happy about.

My final time was 36:12, and I was 160th out of 269 participants—I’ll take it. I ran it a few minutes faster last year, but I also had more practice runs in before it then. Hey, I still get the bib and t-shirt no matter where I finish.

I met up with Katie and her son, and we stopped by a local coffee shop to grab drinks and snacks before going back to her house. I’ve known her forever—like 10+ years—from working at the ice cream shop. We hadn’t seen each other since the race this time last year—life just gets in the way—so we were able to catch up a bit after which was nice.

I left and got home around 12:30 p.m., when I promptly showered and ate lunch. Then I parked myself on the couch with a book, blanket, and basketball games. After dinner, Josh and I went to a local brewery for flights.

So overall, a pretty great day. I’ve already signed up for my next 5K in May, also one that I’ve done before. And so it begins…