5k Race

Sorry for the little hiatus (AGAIN!!) Hopefully I'm back on track now!

After putting together my Race Results Tab, I realized something...I have not run a 5K race in over 10 years!! I ran a few in high school and several in college, but after switching over to longer distances, I left the 5K distance completely. Probably because I'm not a particularly fast runner and 5Ks are supposed to be FAST!

On a whim last week, I decided to sign up for a 5K on Saturday. It was just a small local race and I really wasn't expecting too much for these reasons...

1. I haven't been running more than 1-2 times per week since the half-marathon in an attempt to both heal my piriformis injury and break in my new minimalist running shoes.

2. I have done no speed training at all in recent months.

3. I am so NOT a 5K runner!!

I really do prefer longer distances because I feel like I can run in my more comfortable pace and not go "all out." ("All out" for each person is VERY relative. Kara Goucher, a world-class marathoner, was running a "slow" pace for her when she was 8 months pregnant of 6:30-7:00 min/mile. Ummmm, yeah, that's basically an all out sprint for me!!)

But I was also interested to see how well I could run a 5K on a whim. I actually finished in a pretty respectable time (24:56, average 8:03 min/mile) but the coolest part was that because it was a small race, I actually ended up taking first place in my age group (30-39) and won my very first running prize....a nifty medal!!

I took 6th place overall out of about 90 runners. Not too shabby for a run I wasn't even planning on a week ago. I have to admit, I kind of like these smaller races where you actually have a chance to win a prize every now and then, even if you're not Kara Goucher!!