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As I’ve mentioned (maybe a million times?), this past weekend I hit the road for three different 5k’s. To be honest, this wasn’t intentional – I completely got my dates mixed up and didn’t realize all three were the same weekend when I hit the “submit” button. Nevertheless, I don’t regret any of them!
1. Friday night my friends and I drove up to Grand Rapids, MI for the Yule Run, I’ll Walk 5k (7 pm start). My friends and I did it last year so it’s nice this is becoming a bit of a holiday tradition. It turned out, I would be the only one to run as the others walked with the cutie-patooty baby and puppy.
It was cold. Or I was cold – not sure which one. The course is mostly flat and it started right on time. I started running and I was worried I had gone out too fast. I was seeing 9:30’s on my garmin. I took control of my breathing and decided to keep pushing it. I crossed the finish line at about 29:50! I was THRILLED! My garmin said the same and that the course was even a tad bit long (just a smidgen but still brings my overall pace down!) My overall pace is listed at 9:34 on the website. I was shocked. I had convinced myself I couldn’t run faster times anymore so this made me really happy.
The rest of the night was spent with friends, Chinese food and a tasty beverage – it was a great night!
2. Bright and early Saturday morning (8:30 am start) was the Turkey Trot 5k. I’ve done this race quit a few times and somehow I always forget how HARD this course it! Man, it’s beastly! It was my friend’s first 5k so I was jazzed to share this with her. I’m a loser and forgot to take a pic of us together but you’ll have to trust me! She did so great! I was super proud of her! Me? I ran over to the start since it was really close to my apt and I knew I was in for a tough 3.1 miles. My legs felt heavy and uncooperative!
I finished this one (which was approximately 12 hours after my first!) in 33 mins and some change. I think my overall pace was about 10:34 (38?). Once I saw this part, I wasn’t as disappointed. In reality, as soon as the “gun” went off and we started up the hill my goal was 33 mins or under so I was happy with this. Afterward, we headed out to IHOP and I had my first ever IHOP pancake. Tasty!
3. My last 5k was the Jingle Bell run and it was at 2 pm on Sunday afternoon. By this time, I was LOW on motivation! I was sitting in my recliner and wondering if I was going to get up and actually run. I was beat and while I wasn’t horribly sore, my legs were definitely tired. Luckily, I realized I had made all of these races massively public so I got off my bum and went out there.
The weather was beautiful and I was slightly overdressed. The race got started a little later than it was supposed to but then it was “go” time. Funny enough, at this moment I was still wondering if I was going to be able to pull this off. We hit the road and I felt like I was running in slow motion. Turns out I was running sub-10 min miles so I kept focusing on the mileage countdown.
Oh man, finishing was SO HARD! Haha, but I crossed the finish line in 29 mins and some seconds and had a 9:24 pace! Wahoo! This course was much flatter than Saturday’s so this definitely helped!
Take-Aways:
*I need to stop underestimating myself! I know this is a recurring theme here but it’s a recurring theme in my life overall.
*A few months ago, I bought some tights that I thought would be good for winter running. Turns out they are recovery compression tights. I figured this out Saturday evening and wore them that night and for the race the next day. I think they really helped!
*Running all out 3 days in a row is hard. Plain and simple.
*I didn’t stop at water stops for the first or third races. I can get through 3.1 miles without a water stop in the middle of Nov.
*It was a good boost of endorphins, confidence and FUN that I needed to infuse in my lackluster marathon training. Oh yeah, I’m still training for a marathon (<— kind of a joke as of late!).
*Not to brag, but my form kinda rocked!
It really was an ideal weekend of racing weather-wise and it also really helped me kick off the holiday season. So happy I didn’t succumb to the nagging voice in my head that said, “you are too tired to do this!” Thanks so much for all of the support!
what, no credit for the photos?!?! lol jk (if you do however become super uber famous you will have to then!)
What a crazy weekend!! I run one 5k and I’m out for a few days! lol. Awesome job!
Wow – nice work German! Awesome.
WOOWOO! Proud of you!!!!
What a great weekend full of running. I have never run two 5Ks in one weekend, let alone three. Good job!