New Albany Independence Day 5k

I hate 5Ks. This is not a new complaint. I'm honestly not sure why I do them sometimes...especially in the blazing summer. That seems to be the only time I do them...WHY?! I suppose what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I have this inner desire to be good at these shorter distances. It just hasn't happened yet. If I could just freaking BQ in a marathon, I can forget about that goal and move on to improving my 5k, 10k, and half.

 

Rant over.

 

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I was asking my new running friend, Sarah K, if she was running on the 4th. In a matter of minutes, she registered to run it with me! Ha! I'm usually the one being peer pressured, so it was nice to dish it out.

 

I usually only have one goal for my 5Ks. For this race, it was to beat my last 5k (22:14 BUT on a slightly short course...7:21/mile per Garmin). I'm still trying to work towards my PR from the summer of 2015 (21:38). I did my typical 2 mile warm up and joined the New Albany MRTT ladies for a group picture.

New Albany Moms Run This Town Crew.

Nerves were very present from the time I woke up. I absolutely do not understand why I would ever get that nervous about a 5k. So stupid. My stomach was in knots, I couldn't make myself eat, and all I could think about was every reason I should fail today. UGH!! I couldn't even carry on a decent conversation with Sarah because I was a hot mess. I saw a couple of people I knew in the crowd, but it just didn't distract me enough from the [hopefully] fast death I was about to put myself through.

Post-race with Sarah K.

 

It was FINALLY time to start, and we lined ourselves up towards the front of the pack. There was no organization at the start line, but I looked at results from previous years to get an idea of how close I should be to the front. The next thing I knew, they said "One minute until we start!" OMG.

 

My goal was to stay as close to a 7 minute mile as I could for the first mile. The two races I did the month before were 7:11 and 7:07...I really needed those few seconds to get my time down. I tried not to look at my watch too much and just get into some kind of groove. I looked at my pace in the first half mile to make sure I wasn't going too fast. Mile 1 clocked in at [6:54]! Ok...good start.

 

I was starting to feel the heat about this time. I just told myself to keep moving my legs no matter how my body was telling me it felt. Halfway through the second mile, the faster girls caught up and passed me...at least three or four of them. I'm not competitive enough to let this bother me...sometimes I wish I was! I hated this mile because we had to run over this wooden bridge. The change felt weird under my feet, and I just didn't like it! I had to re-find my groove after that. Mile 2 clocked in at [7:20].

 

I was o.k. with that split. Historically, in 5Ks, my first mile is the fastest, the second is usually my slowest, then I get a bit of a kick at the end. This race was slightly different than my typical 5K. The heat was starting to get to me. I carried a hand-held water bottle so I was trying to focus on hydrating myself. I looked at my current pace and it read "7:50." Just as I thought I might give up, I saw one of the leading ladies walking. As I passed her, I tried to encourage her to keep going. She told me she had just battled breast cancer. I told her to keep going and finish with me! The fact that she was out there put a fire in me. I couldn't let myself finish with a mile that slow. I tried my best to forget about my surroundings and finish the best that I could in that moment. I managed to run mile 3 in [7:25]. Meh. I then rounded a corner to take the straight-away to the finish. I dry heaved for a minute or so after finishing. At least I had proof that I tried!

Apparently, I can run 5:23 for at least 0.06 miles. Bahaha!! 

My official finish time:

22:01.

I know Garmins aren't perfect but I like to go by my overall average for my small races to help me see my improvement. My Memorial Day 5k averaged 7:22. The Chloe 5k a week later averaged 7:21. I improved by 10 seconds per mile!

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I'm inching closer and closer to my old running self. There are so many areas in which I need to improve...pretty much all of them need to improve! LOL. I'm not unhappy with my progress, I'm just impatient. Right now, running a good marathon is my main focus. After I qualify for Boston, I can focus more on the shorter races. I just want to do it all, and that's just not possible.