Monday, May 4, 2015

Sonnenberg Spring 5k Recap

This race was a really nice start to the season!

Let us start back on Friday when I was able to pay off my third students loan!


Saturday we woke up at 6:30 and got around for the day. I ended up eating 3 mini bagels 1 when I woke up, 1 an hour before the race, and 1 half an hour before the race. The one thing that I think that I neglected to do was to drink enough water.

We got to my house and walked ~1 mile as a warm up to get to packet pickup. The event didn't have the correct size for my friend's or my race shirt ( which was a bummer) but they were a nice purple color and a long sleeved shirt (which was kind of nice!)

We ran into Hollie's pastor and on of the girls that we went to high school with before the race and ended up running pretty similar times with her. 

The first mile was within the park and had shade so we powered through it, even though it started on an uphill (9:42 mile). We then hit the black top of the Va Hospital and I realized that my choice of wearing a long sleeved shirt was a poor one.

The 2nd mile was really rough and I had to walk a couple of times because of the pure heat of the day. I lost Hollie and Brooke as they went ahead but then caught them again by picking up my speed when I did start jogging again (9:53 mile). 

It was by that point that we were back in the park. I couldn't breathe and had to slow to a walk again. I shooed my friend Hollie ahead because this was her first race and she had a goal of getting below a 30 minute 5k. I saw her overtake Brooke and I forced myself to continue to chase Brooke with off -and-on walking. The course ended on an up hill and I was able to overtake Brooke on that hill but when it flattened out for the last .1 of a mile she flew by me. I was so tired by this point and was sure that I had missed my goal by having to walk.. but as I rounded the corner and saw that the clock was at 29:50 I pushed the last bit of effort that I had and finished off with a time of 29:55! (10:20 1.1 mile)

I couldn't believe it! I was so happy that we were both able to reach our goal of getting a sub-30 5k! Brooke told us that the finish listing was up and Hollie (29:20) had placed in 3rd for our age group (20-25), Brooke had placed in 4th (also gotten a pr of 29:49), and I had placed in 5th! Hollie was so excited to get a medal for her first 5k, she couldn't wait to sign up for our next one!

Hollie and I after cooling down a bit.

Dustin and me and I was soo warm and tired.

Holls and I again right after finishing.

And here is the confusing and hilly course that I wasn't prepared for but we all finished strong! 

Overall, I am very happy and proud of being able to finish in our goal times! My next race is on May 17th and my goals for next race are to A) not walk during the race & B) beat my time of 29:55.
It will be a bigger race with a lot more people, but I am sure that that will only fuel me to not walk and to really give it my all. 

Even though this wasn't a PR race (5k pr time is 29:28) it was a nice starting place after 2 years of not racing at all. :] I cannot wait for the 5k on the 17th! 


2 comments:

  1. Great job! That does look like a confusing race! I have found that when a race is bigger I do better--I guess I like the cheering!
    I have a half on the 17th too--

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    1. I feel as though I will do better in a larger race as well! The one on the 17th draws thousands of runners each year so it will be neat to run with so many people! I bet you'll do GREAT at your half! Do you feel ready for it?

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