Reed’s Lake 5K Race Recap
I’m part of a runner’s group at work that provides entry into a few local races. This past Saturday’s Reed’s Lake 5K was included.
Normally Ben and I run 5Ks together but he was out of town—so I daydreamed about setting a solo PR.
I’ve been triathlon training, but I forgot just how speedy my PR was. It was a really hot morning, I’m suffering from bad blisters from training, I spread eight bags of mulch by myself the night before and had a bad breakfast provoking digestive issues the morning of. Plus I wanted to bike to/from the race start.
So. I decided, yeah, no PR—but how about under 27 minutes?
Right when the race started my legs felt heavy. A gazillion people passed me but I tried to focus on running strong. The course was mostly great minus running on sand in a construction zone, mostly shaded minus spots of brutal direct sun and mostly cheery with a few neighbors coming out onto their front lawns to watch.
I finished mile 1 a little slow and fought off some side cramps during mile two but managed to run it faster. I tried to stick with it for mile three. The finish was a flat straightaway within view for the last quarter mile.
It was brutal but I loved it! I wanted to sprint but was dying! I quit looking at my watch and just booked it with everything I had left. I crossed at 27:21.
Had maybe two of my five aforementioned excuses not been on the table I may have broken 27, but I was damn proud of my race anyway. I wandered around the finish area like a roasted zombie for a good 10 minutes which is a good sign of giving it 100%. Also, it felt pretty great to bike back home to a house with a beautiful fresh mulch job. I’ll give 21 seconds to that.
Normally Ben and I run 5Ks together but he was out of town—so I daydreamed about setting a solo PR.
I’ve been triathlon training, but I forgot just how speedy my PR was. It was a really hot morning, I’m suffering from bad blisters from training, I spread eight bags of mulch by myself the night before and had a bad breakfast provoking digestive issues the morning of. Plus I wanted to bike to/from the race start.
So. I decided, yeah, no PR—but how about under 27 minutes?
Right when the race started my legs felt heavy. A gazillion people passed me but I tried to focus on running strong. The course was mostly great minus running on sand in a construction zone, mostly shaded minus spots of brutal direct sun and mostly cheery with a few neighbors coming out onto their front lawns to watch.
I finished mile 1 a little slow and fought off some side cramps during mile two but managed to run it faster. I tried to stick with it for mile three. The finish was a flat straightaway within view for the last quarter mile.
It was brutal but I loved it! I wanted to sprint but was dying! I quit looking at my watch and just booked it with everything I had left. I crossed at 27:21.
Had maybe two of my five aforementioned excuses not been on the table I may have broken 27, but I was damn proud of my race anyway. I wandered around the finish area like a roasted zombie for a good 10 minutes which is a good sign of giving it 100%. Also, it felt pretty great to bike back home to a house with a beautiful fresh mulch job. I’ll give 21 seconds to that.