DAY 48: MY FIRST 5K WAS A BLAST!!!

Greetings,

My first 5K was FREAKING AWESOME!!!

First and foremost, I gotta give a shout out to my family and friends for all the encouragement and support going into the race! It really meant a lot to me.

Abridged Race Report:
I finished. I had LOTS of fun. I felt great during and after the race. AND much to my surprise, I won my age group!!! SWEET!!!

Un-abridged Race Report:
This was a very small race (~100 runners) held by the Philadelphia Unemployment Project. My best friend forever (BFF) ran with me for support. Even though she didn’t train much, she rocked it!

I was really looking forward to getting one of those timing chips that everyone talks about, but unfortunately, they didn’t have them. But I did get to pin my first number bib to my shirt! #1939. And I got my first race t-shirt. NICE!!!

The course was completely flat, a simple out-and-back along a closed road running parallel to the Schuykill River near the infamous Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was about 75*F and the air was pretty muggy. The skies were overcast with lots of clouds threatening to pour rain, but the sun ended up breaking through eventually.

The start line was very unofficial and the race began with some guy yelling into a bullhorn. People were just sort of standing around chatting, when he randomly yelled “GO!” No ‘1, 2, 3’ or ‘On your mark, get set,’ just “GO!” So, my BFF and I ended up crossing the start line about 30 seconds after the race actually began.

We went out slow and comfortably, just like all my serious ruuner friends suggested. My BFF felt we were going too slowly because EVERYONE took off past us while we were putting along. But she followed my ‘slow’ lead and we ran the first mile in 10:22. As we picked up the pace just a bit during the second mile (9:59), we gradually started to pass people as they started to lose steam and slow down. I was still feeling just fine. My legs felt strong and I wasn’t huffing and puffing. When we hit the beginning of mile 3, I began to pick up the pace a bit more but my BFF started to get side cramps. Running along side my best friend was more important than my finishing time, so I slowed down with her. But when the finish line came into view at about the last half mile, I took off without her (she gave me her blessing) and came in at 30:29, according to my FR 305. However, I think my ‘official’ time was 31:08 according to the digital clock at the finish line.

My family was waiting for me at the finish line, cheering me on and taking pictures. Most of the other runners figured out that it was my first race because my family was making a spectacle out of the event: jumping up and down, rolling a digital video camera, flashing several cameras and of course yelling and screaming. They were AWESOME!

Then to top things off, it turned out that I finished first in my age group, which earned me my first piece of running hardware. I would have NEVER thought I would win anything, but I did and I was flabbergasted.

CLICK HERE FOR PICS FROM MY FIRST 5K


I am stoked about my next 5K race coming up on Oct 5, but I’m even more excited about volunteering at the Philadelphia Distance Run on Sept 21.

I'm going to take a 'rest' day tomorrow and go rollerblading with my mom and sister.



Almost Thirty