5K Race

Steven, Lewis & I ran a 5K race in Friendswood this morning. We were supposed to run a 10K Thanksgiving weekend, but they changed the date at the last minute & we were unable to run it, so we were ready to do a race! We ran this race last year in nasty, nasty weather (cold & sloshy/wet). This year, we ran in 65+ degrees and sunny. Actually, we all got a little bit hot about half-way through the race.

Steven & Lewis did great & beat their fasted times. Steven's pace was 7:48 a mile, which is awesome! (I hope he posts with his own account of the race!) He was 15th overall and, we think, 3rd in his age group. They only gave out top awards to top male & females in each age group & they still haven't posted results. Lewis ran his race in just under 30 minutes and did great. He was due for a long run this weekend, so he actually ran on home after the race (which was about 2 more miles). So, he got a semi-long run in this weekend...with a little breather between the 5K and the rest of his run.

Then, there's me. I was so dissapointed today. It's funny how your mentality about these races changes after you've been doing this for a year - you go from wanting to finish to wanting to improve your time or your pace or your mentality.... My goal today was to beat my own best time, but it didn't happen. Last week, I actually hurt my food during the end of my 10 mile run. It didn't bother me until the end of that run, and I just figured my feet were "tired". But, my shoes were shot and I couldn't even put them back on my feet all week. I bought new shoes on Monday, which seemed to work okay today during the race. But, my foot started hurting pretty badly in the last mile. It hurt more and more as I continued....and I was tired because I started too fast. It just wasn't a good combination.

I ran my first mile in 9 1/2 minutes - my fastest mile EVER. I was at 20:15 at mile 2. Fatigue and my foot kicked in just after mile 2 and I finished with a time of 35:14. 15 minutes on that last mile. So disappointing.

Lessons learned - wear good shoes, don't start too fast, pacing, pacing, pacing. I thought this race would be a breeze since I'm capable of running 10 miles now. But, it wasn't easy. It was a race....I forgot to pace myself. I ran with a hurt foot. And, I finished with a time I wasn't thrilled about. BUT, I finished and the race environment was lots of fun, like always! So, that part was AWESOME!

On another note, Steven won a door prize! I joked just before they drew his name. The drawing was for a gift card to, what we thought was a hair salon. I said, "watch Steven, you'll win this one!" The guy drew the name - "Steven Magsig" - everyone sitting at our table was cracking up since I had just made that comment. It turns out this place is actually a day spa and I think Steven needs to send Lisa down for a spa day after her crazy Christmas work schedule is done! That'll be fun!

Well, we got a race in. Great job, Steven & Lewis & I'm glad I ran and finished. I'll keep you all posted with my foot. I will probably head to the doctor this week because I don't know what's wrong & I can't self-diagnose. I need to find out if I need to take some time off or if I need to work through it. We'll see!

Happy running! -Jen

5K Results:
Steven - 24:12
Lewis - 29:55
Jen - 35:14