I did it! Not only did I finish my first 5K race, but I ran it at an average pace of 10:29 – my fastest pace ever! How’s that for a lovely surprise?
My Results: (because my dad didn’t believe that I finished)
Okay, so let me just recap the entire race-day process starting from the night before. I slept at my cousin Lainey’s place in the city since she was running the race with me – shout out to her also for her first 5k and for having absolutely no training what-so-ever! I got to her place around 12:30 am because I was on singing duty the night before. My alarm was set for 6:30am, but I was up at the ripe time of 5:30 for a grand total of five desperately needed hours of sleep. Note to self: sleep is not overrated so please allow a full 8 hour slot for your next race.
I didn’t wash my face the night before. Yes, I broke my healthy skin rule #1, but sometimes you just need to pick your battles – sleep clearly won that one.
This is what it looked like outside when I got up:
I then proceeded to make the girls and I breakfast, which consisted of Multigrain toast with natural peanut butter and a cup of coffee: necessary running fuel!
It is now 6:30 am and time to wake up my cousin Lainey. Our conversation as follows:
- Me: “Wake up it’s race day!”
- Lainey: “I’m just gonna sleep”
- Me: “You need to get up, it’s for the children!”
- Lainey: “I already donated”
- Me: “I’m making you breakfast and coffee – you can do this!”
It was in the upper 30’s – so slightly cold when you’re not warmed up, but perfect for running! I was wearing my thermal running pants, a tank, my dry-fit pull over, the hot chocolate race jacket, a vest and ear warmers.
Our lovely morning faces:
There were over 30,000 people ready to run like they meant it:
I wish I was able to take pictures of some of the motivational posters during the race, but it proved to be too difficult. One of my favorites: “Run Stranger Run!”I let out a good smile when I read that and I also noticed that as I would see these signs my pace would get quicker. It was so inspiring running alongside all these people and the crowds cheering for us made it even that much more motivating!
The run itself wasn’t bad, but there were times when it was a little crowded and you had to run around people – making it hard to set a good pace. I used my running app on my phone to track my pace and distance as well, and noticed that we actually ran more than a 5k. I was getting really confused when we would reach the markers and my phone was telling me we were at a further distance – only later to find out that a truck was blocking the race course, so there was a last minute detour which extended the distance to about 3.3 miles. That made me happy because I was slightly disappointed with my time at first.
Here at last:
I nearly cried from tears of joy when I saw that beautiful sign! What an incredible feeling it is to cross the finish line after all your hard work. It really does pay off 🙂
Things I will do differently for my upcoming race:
1. Get a good night’s sleep
2. Wear gloves – my fingers nearly fell off.
3. Look over the race route – I didn’t do that for this one and decided it’s necessary.
4. Know that it’s okay to take walk breaks if you need them.
Overall, I will say that all my routinely runs fared to serve their purpose. The feeling of accomplishment is well worth the short-term feeling of torture. If you haven’t signed up for a 5k yet, I urge you to make that one of your future goals – you won’t be disappointed 🙂
*Stickers the whole weekend. I’ll have you know that I did “cheat” with raisins yesterday – if you count that as cheating 😉
holi-health 