My First Official 5K Run

This past Saturday was my very FIRST official 5k run of my training program. Now I've WALKED a lot of 5k's before, but this is the first that I've ever run...and definitely the first one since I've started the whole process of training for the half. Needless to say I was slightly nervous. I'd been running a 3 mile distance for the last 2 weeks so as far as distance goes I wasn't concerned, but everyone says that race day is different. The adrenaline and such can throw you off.....well let me tell you they are RIGHT

Race time was at 8:15. I was up by 6 and getting out the door by 7. We arrived in Woodinville at Redhook Brewery by 7:30am. I picked up my race packet, including my bib and tracking chip (I felt SO official! Dorky yes I know but it was COOL! ha). And then I had a good half an hour till race time. Lots of stretching and looking around. It was a much larger race than I had anticipated. There was a 10k portion with about 400 people, a 5k run with 55 runners, and then a 5k walk. Not sure how many walkers but there were a LOT of families and strollers!! The run benefited Seattle Children's Hospital (kinda fitting given the week we'd just gone through).

Starting the race I think I made my number one mistake.....starting with the bulk of the pack. It was VERY crowded, and so I ended up trying to dart up past the crowd and make a break for it. BAD IDEA. My pace to start was most likely WAY to quick. Also - it was a lot warmer out than it had been over the last month or so of my training. I'm not one used to running in heat...or humidity. Makes a big difference. I also learned as I started my run that my iPod had not synced up that morning....meaning the two new songs I'd REALLY wanted to add to my playlist were not there...DAMN

BUT I made it the first two miles without stopping. At a really great pace...but then my tank started to run out. Throughout the third mile I had to stop a few times and do 20 second intervals of walking. Regain some strength and energy. But I finished the full last portion of the race from the last turn on the road to the entrance back to Redhook Brewery, and picked up to a nice sprint to finish it off.

Overall, I finished at 30:05, a pace of 9:41/mile, and placed 19th of 55 runners. Given the fact that I had to walk a portion of the third mile, I'm pretty damn impressed with my timing. Shows just how much I'd set the pace at the beginning. And overall, the race itself was a huge learning experience. Made me fully realize the importance of doing some races before the big day in December.

My next 5k run is on September 11th around Greenlake. So close to home! End goal for this 5k is to run the whole thing and pick up the overall pace time. :-)

I've posted links to the race results as well as my Athlinks account! Given that I'll be running more races I learned about Athlinks from a friend (thanks Ryan), in which I can claim my race results all in one spot :-D

Check it out!

Covey Run 5k Race Results
http://onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php#racetop

My Athlinks Account
http://www.athlinks.com/racer.aspx?rid=101108156