Pink Ribbon 5k Race Report

Sunday dawned COLD and snowy with a temperature of 32F!!  I didn't think it would be that cold so I hadn't brought any warm clothes with me, as I was staying at my parents.  My mom and I made a quick stop at my apartment to pick up my pink under armour top and then we headed to the race around 8am.

We arrived at around 8:30 with the race set to start at 9:05am (not sure about those extra 5 minutes...)  The parking lot was filled with women all dressed in every shade of pink!  We quickly found the registration table and signed in but the people couldn't find my mom's name.  I had accidentally signed my mom up to run the 5k instead of walk...opps!

We made a bathroom stop and then huddled together for warmth while we waited for the race to start.  I didn't even warm up before the race but I knew that I would be ok since I had been practicing running 2 miles fast in the morning with no warm up!

The start of the race was also the finish as it was an out and back course!  Soon it was almost time to start but not before every important person got to say a few words! I was freezing, my feet and fingers were cold and I just wanted to get started so I could warm up!

Before I knew it we were on our way.  I followed a few women and just tried to stay with them as I wasn't sure how fast they were going. I could barely feel my feet because they were numb from the cold which really is the oddest feeling while running!  In the past I have always started out way too fast on the first mile but this race (and in the other 5k race I ran 2 weeks ago) I started off at just the right pace.  I actually ran the same split for my first mile as my last 5k which was awesome.  I was happy I was able to control the pace right from the beginning and not start too fast.

Soon we passed the first mile marker and there was a nice decline but I knew I would have to climb it on the way back.  I slowly picked off two runners and felt strong.  I did feel a little crampy in my stomach but just kept focusing on moving my arms in the correct form and soon I felt better.  We made a left onto a side street for the loop around and I passed another runner.  We finished the loop and came out on the street for the final part of the race.  By this time there were many runners going the opposite way as me and they cheered as they saw the leaders go by.

As I passed mile 2 I still was feeling good.  Legs were moving, arms felt good and breathing was under control.  I just keep chugging along.  A little after 2 miles I crested the uphill and a volunteer yelled to "Keep going - it's all downhill from here"!  I was not happy about that - I knew it was not downhill from there!

As I was about a half mile away from the finish I saw my mom walking.  She stopped and quickly snapped some pictures before continuing on her way!  The walkers had taken a different route than the runners - kind of odd but she said she enjoyed it.  As you can see we had the whole road to ourselves by this point as most of the runners were on the way back.  The girl in front of me was in my age group and I just couldn't stay with her.  She ended up beating me by about 15 seconds.

My shoulder had started to ache and I had lost all control of my form.  I felt like I had slowed down a lot but tried to pick up the pace again once I saw how close I was to the finish.  We turned back into the park for the final stretch and I just kept lifting my legs and sprinted in.  I was out of breath and dying but I knew I was within reach of  PR so I pushed it!

I came in 16th place and I was second in my age group with a time of 21:37 which was a 10 second PR!  I wasn't able to get my splits but I know that my first mile was 6:51 and I passed the second mile marker at about 13:56.

After finishing I started walking back out to the course to find my mom!  She was really moving and even sprinted the final straightaway from the finish! She was moving so fast that I missed her and didn't get a picture of her finishing!  I did make her stand and pose after the race thought!

I really enjoyed running this race with my mom on mother's day! I just wish it had not been so cold and windy!  I can't wait for the summer weather when it will be warm for races!  This was my first women only race and I loved it!  I really hope that I can do this race again next year with my mom!!