On Saturday Kim's running club put on their first 5K race. The Just Book It! 5K was a fundraiser for the Grayslake library and took place on a path and in the neighborhoods surrounding the library.
It also served as an unofficial blogger meet up! Obviously I already know Kim, and I'd already met Bobbi, but at the race I got to meet Lauren and Marcia as well. So many fun ladies!
Instead of doing a warm-up, we got recruited to assist with directing people to the kid's dash. That was okay by me because I didn't really have a plan for this race. Run for fun, run with friends, just see what I had. Any of those were okay with me.
We lined up at the start line a little before 8:00 AM and I decided I'd just run my best to see where I was in terms of 5K fitness. Bobbi and Lauren both wanted to come in under 30 minutes for the first time so Kim decided to be their pacer. Marcia, like me, just wanted to see what she could pull out.
My goal was to run negative splits. I'm not very good at this at the 5K distance. But when my Garmin beeped at mile one and I saw 8:45 I figured I had it with no sweat. Well, okay, there was sweat. A lot of it, actually. It was humid! But thankfully overcast.
My right shoe came untied during mile 2. A first for me. I stopped to tie it at the corner where Kim's husband was course-marshaling. Then I practically sprinted trying to make up for the lost time. Consider my second mile was 8:24 I think I may have sprinted a little too much.
There were lots of water stops on the course. Many more than I would have expected for a 5K. That was fine by me. During the third mile I stopped at one, grabbed a cup, swished the water around in my mouth and then poured the rest of it down my back. It sort of helped. I was hot. My legs were tired. My brain tried to trick me into slowing down. And I sort of did. Mile three beeped at 8:25. So close!!
The finish was great in that you could see the finish line from quite a good distance away and there was no uphill to get to it. I could see Marcia up ahead of me. I tried to pick it up and my pace for the last .1 sure reflects that.
I crossed the finish line at 26:33. I guzzled water and then began walking back along the side towards the incoming runners. When I saw Bobbi and Kim I glanced at the clock and knew they were going to smash her sub-30 goal. I ran alongside cheering and yelling encouragement. Then it was time to run Lauren in. Same drill. She says it helped her also go sub-30. Yay! New PRs for both of them!
Marcia also had a great race, coming in second in her age group. So of course we stuck around for awards.
My time was not spectacular even though I came in 5th out of 26 in my age group. I just do not do well in the humidity, I guess. I ran this same 5K time back at the end of April and I wasn't even trying. I'm really hoping that I get a nice, cool, humidity-free day for my next 5K.
But, really, a great clock-time is not why I ran this race in the first place. I ran it to support my friend Kim and her club and I ran it to have a great social-time. And since I accomplished both of those I have to say it was a success.
Just Book It! 5K by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details
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