First Race

Today was my first 5K. I didn't get up early enough for the group warm up before hand but did get out there on time for the race.

I have learned next time ....

register for the timed race instead of untimed - it was so aggravating when the race started to try and weave my way through the walkers trying to get to the front to run. And then there were three boys probably no older than 12 or 13 that thought it was really funny to run in front of the people running and then stop. They did this to me and I almost fell onto the two little ones but had to side step in between them and ended up knocking into the third. I was not happy with them at all.

show up super early - the line for the timed runners to pick up their chips was incredibly long. I'll need to make sure that I do show up early next time so that I don't have to wait as long.

have someone there to cheer me on/run with - this one is merely preference. I think I would be more motivated to keep running if I know that somewhere along the route is going to be someone I know. This would also work if I had someone to run with.

don't schedule anything to do right after - immense hunger set in about three hours after the race. And the exhaustion. I took a 2 1/2 hour nap and still feel drained.

for longer races, schedule a massage - my legs were so sore and walking helps but after rest, they're stiff again. It would be so nice to have someone work out the kinks for me.

So the race itself was pretty good. I have mixed feelings about not knowing the route before I ran. I like the fact that I didn't know where the turning point but I think that could go against me too. I started off running and once I got past the walkers, I kept up a pretty good pace. I got to a point where very few people were passing me but I was still passing others. And I was determined to not walk at all. The last part was running across the Waco Suspension Bridge. I thought that it was going to be fun. I had never been across it before and then the moment I started across it, it wasn't fun anymore. There was a strong crosswind that made it difficult to run. I finished by sprinting the very, very last part. It felt good. I finished in 30:15 with an average pace of 9:26 which is just awesome.

I'm psyched about my next race :-)