Post-Race Day Re-Cap

Saturday, June 21, I ran my first race and first 5K ever. I estimated, based on my runs prior to race day, that I would be able to finish the race in about 52 minutes. I did a little better than that, 51:03. Fifty-two minutes, wasn't a planned goal, it was just a realistic estimate of my running a little under or around 17 minutes/mile.

My goal with this race, was to finish...finish strong and finish running (not walking or crawling). So, I achieved my goal.

It was a warm day and the path we ran wasn't very shady. There were 2 water stations along the path and lots of people along the way to cheer us on. It was great to have those encouragers along the way! Here is a map of the race route (its a PDF).

I started out running with my great-niece, this was her first 5K as well, and one of her grandpa's, but it wasn't long before they were cruising along....I'm not that fast and I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up. I was probably in the middle of the pack at the beginning of the race, but it didn't take long before I had been passed by what felt like every runner. It was a little dis-heartening to be at the tale end, but those encouragers along the route really helped keep my spirits up and kept me going and helping me want to finish. I don't remember what songs played on my i-device, I remember the RunKeeper app voice telling me how long I'd been running, but that's about it.

I know the first time I walked was just passed the 10 minute point of running, I started out stronger and faster than I normally would have, which I understand is a normal mistake...you just get caught up with all the other runners and get sucked in. I made sure that my walks lasted long enough for me to catch my breath, but not too long. I tried to make sure the walks only lasted for about 30 seconds and the majority of them did. It was the tail end of the race that I probably walked a little more than 30 seconds. I wanted to finish the race running.

My race results can be found here. My overall time was 51:03.8 which is an average pace of 16.28/mile. Now I have a standard to gauge myself against for future races.

My husband took some great video of the start of the race and me crossing the finish line. You can watch that video below.

Some pictures, taken by KnightLIGHT Photography are also below. For more pictures from the race, click here.

The start of the race. I'm in the purple just passed the guy
in front wearing his hat backwards. The thing to my left is
where I stretched at the end of the race.

Finishing my first 5K race. 51:03.8 (16:28/mile)

At the end of the race, just after my husband stopped recording, I said, "My feet are numb." It was like a pins and needles kind of numb...which started when I had about 0.6 miles left (I'm just going by what the volunteer said as I ran by). After stretching and walking around a bit, my calf muscles felt sore. But, after a shower back at the hotel, I felt much better and haven't really been in too much pain today. It's a little stressful on my right knee going up and down our basement stairs, but I'm sure it will be gone by my next run day, Tuesday. I'm taking two days off before I start running again.

I'd like to improve how long (number of minutes straight) I can run for, so instead of continuing with the Get Running app which is 2 more sessions of running 25 minutes straight, then 3 sessions of running 28 minutes and finally 3 sessions of 30 minutes running straight (the end of the 9-Week Couch to 5K program), I'm going to revert to running 20 minutes straight. I will do that for my next 3 runs and see where I am before deciding to move up to 25 minutes and then following the Get Running app again.

Below is me in my first race T. Looking forward to building a collection of race T's.