Pre-race.. ready to roll.
Ran the Race Against Racism in York yesterday. This was my first 5K EVER last year. It was such a cool feeling to wake up yesterday feeling excited about running a 5K instead of sick to my stomach. I wasn't feeling 100% in the morning because I had a few drinks the night before at Happy Hour (lesson learned, self... ), but I woke up, got myself moving, had breakfast and a bottle of Diet Coke because I'm too lazy to make coffee, picked Jenna up, and headed off to the race.
I was thrilled about the fact that there was a dark chocolate Hershey's Bliss bar in my bag, lol. Probably more than I should have been. Had a cup of Starbucks coffee from a vendor while waiting around for the race to start, then found our way to the beginning of the pack before the race started.
I started out slow because the first mile is a slow uphill and I knew that I would poop myself out if I took off too quickly. My hip started to pull as soon as I started uphill, but I kept telling myself that yes, it hurt, but no, it wasn't stopping me. After the first mile, I started downhill again, taking off as fast as I could push myself and passing quite a few people on the downhill and the following flat section.
Sweet 16... swag bag.
I was so motivated running yesterday. I kept passing a group of high school soccer players who looked like they were dying. It was like coming full circle for me because I quit soccer when I was younger because the new coach was going to make me run and I just wouldn't stand for that... hahaha. The only thing that had me a little messed up was that instead of mile markers, they had placed motivational signs up at each mile. I was glad that I knew the course because last year, that would have left me in a tizzy, not knowing how far I'd gone or how far I had left to go.
Anyway, I ended up finishing in 33:31, my fastest 5K ever, and over 4 minutes faster than last year's time of 37:43. I felt awesome! It was the first race I've run where I was never by myself behind the pack. I kept trying to spit, but I couldn't because there was always someone on either side of me. I kept thinking to myself, so this is what it feels like to not be the slowest one.
I'm looking forward to all of the upcoming races... can't wait. I'm thinking about registering for the 5K portion of the Bob Potts Marathon on the Rail Trail down here on the 15th just to see if I can improve my PR.
In other news, P. and I were tick food last night. We took Lucy to Klines Run Park for a little hike and did part of the Native Lands Heritage Trail. Between the 3 of us, we found 8 ticks. Grosssssssss. However, after our little War of the Ticks, we booked our flights for Portland, which is super exciting because it means that Fueled by Fine Wine is that much closer! :)