April Fool's 5k Race Recap

Top of the morning to you all.  It's dreary and raining in Wisconsin today... and my soul is mildewing from lack of sunshine...

 

Luckily, it didn't rain on Friday night.  I made the last-minute decision to run the April Fool's 5k, held at 6pm on a flat, super fast course close to home.

 

It was the first time I've run this race, and my first ever evening race.  The only logistical problem of the race not being in the morning was that I had so much more time to get nervous.  As in all day.

 

I didn't have any concrete goals in my head.  Of course, I wanted to try to beat my longstanding PR of 22:42, but I'd had a few glasses of wine the night before and was battling the ol' wine headache for the better part of the day, and I was having trouble getting myself in the racing spirit.

 

_____________________________________________________________

 

The course was a point-to-point, so we were instructed to park at the finish and take a shuttle to the start.  As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, we knew we were in for a long wait.  A line of several hundred people snaked through the parking lot and no buses were in sight.  Runners in shorts and tank tops huddled together for warmth in the forty degree weather.

 

It was a 40+ minute wait before we were able to board, and my Raynaud's was in full force.  My fingers and toes were frozen, and I couldn't wait to get onto that damn bus.   Luckily, I had the best company on the bus:

 

 

 

Me and my hubby. 

 

 

 

As it turns out, there were only 2 school buses for 1,000 people, and we were still in freezing our asses off in line at 6pm when the race was scheduled to start.  The race director was forced to delay the start of the race by 20 or 25 minutes.  As soon as we hopped off the bus and made our way to the start, the anthem was sung and the gun went off.

 

____________________________________________________________

 

I wanted my overall pace to be below 7:18/mile to get the PR, and I started fast - my pace for the first quarter mile or so was in the 6:20s.  I was having trouble falling into a rhythm because my feet were so cold it felt like I was running with bricks strapped to the bottom of my shoes.

 

I looked at my Garmin only once or twice during the race.  It's a freaking 5k, that shit is so uncomfortable I wasn't thinking of too much other than running tangents and crossing the finish line.

 

One or two miles in... pretty sure I was hallucinating here.

 

I was lucky enough to meet up with a friend of a friend at some point during the race and we helped push each other and even managed a bit of gaspy small talk.

 

Soon I saw the 3 mile mark, and turned the corner to the finish.  I could see the finish line clock, and the first two numbers were a 2 and a 1.  Sweet victory.

 

 

Rasta leprechaun photobomb.

 

____________________________________________________

 

April Fool's 5k

F25-29

 

*** 21:40 ***

6:59 pace

 

Overall: 40/887

Div: 3/85

Sex: 6/584

 ____________________________________________________

 







 The time was good enough for second in my AG (I was really third, but one girl won the overall women.. so thanks to that speedy chick for boosting me up in the world).  The award was... drumroll please... a cheap fleece hat. 

A fleece hat, and you got to give a tiny lady a ride on your shoulders.

_________________________________________________

The best part of the race was that almost everyone in our group got a huge PR.  And I got to run with some awesome buddies and my super fast husband who busted out a 25 minute 5k with no training.  I know you might be tempted to hate him because of that, but then you see how cute he is:

 

PRs all around!  Me, Alicia, Sarah 

____________________________________________________

 

 

I'm pretty sure I'm done with 5ks for awhile.  That time is faster than I ever thought I was capable of, and I'm not looking forward to trying to beat it anytime soon. 

 

 

Do you enjoy doing 5ks for fun?  Not me.  I love running longer distance races for fun, and I don't feel the need to PR every time.  But for some reason I always feel I have to race a 5k.

 

 

What's your next big PR quest? I'm going to go with the 13.1.  I've got a half in a month, and despite my worrying lack of long runs, I'd like to try to best my PR.