My First 5k!

So a few weeks ago, I mentioned a race I was doing with my friend Brittany here and here, and I wanted to share how the race went!

I went to bed early on Saturday night for be ready for my 5:45am alarm on Sunday. So my alarm went off and I reached for my alarm clock and BOOM! I fell out of my bed, haha--- so embarrassing! 

My dad had moved my dresser for me on Saturday (we are doing some remodeling at my house), and I totally forgot that I could no longer reach my clock from my bed. My first thought was "Oh my gosh! I hope I didn't injure myself!" Luckily, I escaped with only a bruise on one of my legs--I would have been SO mad if I had done all that training and then hurt myself the day of my race by falling out of bed, haha...

So I woke up, a little groggy but mostly excited, got dressed, and had a nice healthy breakfast of a banana and two pieces of bread/butter. I also drank two full glasses of water and braced myself for the one day that it was ridiculously cold in the DC area.

(I read this tip on a running website and it said if you drink 2 glasses a few hours before you run, you won't get thirsty but you also won't have to go to the bathroom during the race--all very true!) 

Getting ready and of course as one usually does at that hour of the day on a weekend, I was trying to be super quiet...and proceeded to drop just about everything I used to get ready, hah...

 

 

This is me super excited about the 13 degree wind chill factor. Also, really should not have access to my IPhone at 5:45am...having a little too much fun, lol

Brittany and her husband, Nick, plus their adorable little 1 year old and I set out for Arlington, VA. Although it was cold, the race organizers had rented out a sports bar right by the race, which was so nice because we didn't have to wait outside before the race began.

 At the restaurant before the race began---love those pink tutus

Brittany and I started together, wished each other good luck before she took off like a rocket-- seriously, she was like a lightening bolt!

I purposely started off slowly so I wouldn't go too quickly for the first mile, and we had been running for about 5 minutes when we turn a corner and see a HUGE hill-- yikes.

 I had asked people who know the area if there were any big hills on Army-Navy Drive (the road that the race was on), and they told me no, so I was so not expecting that, but at least it was at the beginning of the race, which was way better than if it had been an uphill at the end....

                                                 Running the race!                                                       

The race was definitely a challenge and I did occasionally stop to walk for just a few seconds to catch my breath, but overall, it was a great experience. I felt so much more comfortable with my running and my pace--I've been really happy with the progress I made since I started running a few months ago.

I had gotten used to running by myself and it was a little weird running with so many others around me, but I just kept reminding myself that I was running this race for myself and my goal was to finish, so I wasn't worrying too much about how many people were passing me. 

(Although at one point, a guy with a stroller starting gaining on me, so I immediately went into hyper-speed because there was NO way I was going to let a stroller pass me....not that there is anything wrong with strollers! Or kids! I have no problem with either--I just didn't want them to beat me, hah!)

The cool thing about this race was that the first 1.5 miles was running on the road in one direction and the second half was running on the same road in the opposite direction. I liked this because I knew by different landmarks where I was as far as mileage and it was good to see familiar sights, so I knew when I was getting close to the end.

As I turned the last corner and saw the finish line, I picked up speed and was so happy to cross that finish line! My pace was literally exactly what I was hoping for and my overall time was two minutes faster than what I had run in some of my practice runs.

I was not anywhere near the front (obviously), but there were tons of people that finished after me, which was a relief. It sounds silly, but I swear my number one fear going into this race (my very first one) was that I would be in last place. People reassured me that even if that did happen, I was still faster than anyone who hadn't run in the race, which made me feel a little better! :)

 

 

 

Crossing the finish line, looking like I hate life---but I was having fun, I promise!

First 5k--Check! Whoo!

Love this girl! I'm so glad we did it together! :) So fun!

 

The happy racers, celebrating their run on the way home! :)

Trying to get a picture of all of us, which I'm sure wasn't at ALL annoying to Nick, our wonderful driver, who very smartly kept his eyes on the road rather than getting in the picture...haha! :)

I'm really happy that I did it and I definitely want to do another 5K sometime soon!