A few weeks ago I won a giveaway for a free race entry from P’s blog. Hands down the best giveaway I’ve ever won. I thought I “should” run the half marathon because it’s the distance I’ve raced for the last two years, but I decided to run the 5K. Best decision of the week.
I hadn’t run a 5K “race” since April 2012, and to be honest 5K races really aren’t my thing these days. I don’t usually have a desire to spend $$ on a 3 mile race, but this run was a nice change of pace.
Everything about this race was on point. Everything.
It could have been because of my delicious breakfast brought to you by the lady Siren of Starbucks (Komodo Dragon drip coffee-black as night), and a vegan/gluten free pumpkin ginger muffin from The Flying Apron (a local/new to me company I am obsessed with!)
It could have been because this was the first race I didn’t stress about arrival/time(MY GARMIN DIED ON ME so I didn’t even use it for the run)/weather/fuel-the joy of a short run means minimal everything.
It could have been the amazing location, with some of the best views I’ve seen on a run. We ran by the water for 80% of the 3.1 miles.
It could have been the atmosphere that was overwhelmingly positive, supportive, and full of fun activities. Such as a chalk board to write why you run, a post race photo booth, and posters for spectators.
It could have been the girl I focused on staying with, whom I thanked after for helping me run my new race PR. If I wasn’t running the half I told myself I had to push it for the 5K. Come to find out, having me on her tail pushed her as much as me chasing her pushed me. Win.
It could have been the immense sense of independence and power I felt in running another race among 100’s of other women. I totally choked up while reading the “motto” of this race.
OR it could have been the swag bag full of food I got after the race, along with a glass of champagne and a chocolate coconut bar. I’m not a fan of champagne, or any booze really so I only drank a few sips. My post race treat was to come later, another C word…take a guess.
I’m normally a chocolate cupcake connoisseur, but this carrot vanilla cake from the heavens was so.damn.good. After the race/stuffing my face with this cupcake beauty I wandered the area and then ended up heading to Green Lake for a few more miles.
I will definitely do this race again, but next year I would like to run the half. If you have a SJR event in your area (two in CA, one in WA, and one in KS) I HIGHLY suggest you run it. There were even a few men!
OH-and for all you number lovers, my official time was 28:25 (9:09 pace), which is 1:33 faster than my previous race PR. I say “race PR” because I’ve run 3.1 milers on my own time that were quicker. My best EVER in general was at a 9:01 pace. SO CLOSE to sub 9min/mi.
Also, I’ve not run under 9:30 miles in months, this was indeed a push.
Q: What was one of your proudest accomplishments from last week?