Great Hyannis Road Races 5K Race Report

Yesterday I completed my third 5K (or fourth if you include the running portion of the sprint triathlon). My other 5Ks were My First 5K and the Red Bandana Run.

This race was a bit different than the others that I've run because typically I have people to go to the start with and someone watching me. This time Caroline was running the half, but it started 45 minutes after mine and I insisted that Eric not wake up early because there comes a point in running 5Ks that I think he probably doesn't need to watch anyone one :)

I ended up arriving at the race about 3 minutes before it was supposed to start. I didn't meant to be THAT late, but I couldn't find my Garmin at the last minute and then the parking lot was much more full than I thought it would be. Oh well, less time to get nervous.

Mile 1- no split times due to missing Garmin, oh well!

I started out feeling pretty good. My ankle started hurting out of the blue and I considered stopping to stretch it out a bit but it went away on it's own. Interestingly, I was looking back on my 5K from last September and I had the same problem with my ankles. So random. But anyways, the rest of the mile was great and I was really caught up in the whole "yay I can run" thing. Plus there were a lot of kids running this race which I thought was pretty awesome.

Mile 2

Okay so I didn't officially see the mile marker in between 1 and 2, so I spent a lot of 2 thinking "oh my god please tell me I've gone at least 1 mile" haha. But I still felt good. I went by the ocean at this point and I was thinking about how awesome it was to run in such a beautiful place.

Mile 3

I did see the end of mile 2 marker so I sped up a lot at the beginning of mile 3 thinking I only had 1 mile to go. Well 1 mile is pretty far considering most of my training runs were only about 2 miles. Oops. I struggled mentally a lot during this mile because I kept thinking I was closer to the finish than I was. Eventually I did make it though.

Overall Thoughts

I really wanted to beat 30 minutes and I crossed the finish line at 30.06 which in my mind is basically beating 30 because it definitely must have taken me at least 6 seconds if not longer to actually reach the starting point. I think my race bib had a chip in it, so I may know that for sure in a few days. Either way I got my first running medal...

Eric makes fun of me for my love of medals. I realize that regardless of whether you get a medal or not, you still accomplished something. I just feel like it's cool for a race to acknowledge that a 5K IS a big accomplishment for some people. I know "real" runners would scoff at getting a medal for a 5K, but we all have our strengths and weaknesses, right?

Unfortunately I think my training for this race was not so good. Mainly my decision to train on a trail near my house instead of a street. My WHOLE body hurts today in a way I never thought it could after just running 3 miles! This includes my pesky injuries: my knee and back. I have ice on them both as we speak and I'm really hoping they can recover from this quickly. I know my injuries get worse when I run on the street which is why I tried to avoid it, but obviously I should've built up and not just done it one day suddenly. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now :) I probably will be walking my 5K next weekend though...

After the race I headed home to watch Caroline running the half marathon! She was rocking it at Mile 7...

While I was waiting for Caroline, one of the runners yelled out, "She Wears a Red Sox Cap!" and said she loves my blog! AMAZING. By far the coolest part of the day. I felt just a tiny bit famous! I have no idea who it was though, so if you are reading, tell me who you are! :) She was FLYING past and looked awesome at mile 7 too! Thanks for making me feel famous :)

I hope everyone had a good weekend :)