Our 2nd 5K

Bright and early this morning, I ran my second 5k along w/ hubby and my sister in law. The weather was absolutely perfect. It was nice and cool- actually it was cold before we started running! My fingers were ice for the first mile. But I would much rather run in the cool weather than the hot, any day! This was a much bigger race than our first one. I think there were over 500 people. There were lots of very fit people! One man actually beat the record and ran it in less than 15 minutes- wow! He had lapped us before we had even gone a mile. Here is a picture of people waiting before the race.

Getting lined up.

And we’re off (we’ll I’m way in the back!) lol 

The course was very scenic, along the river for the most part. It was bright and sunny with a clear sky. It was fun running in a new place!

We did not wear our iPod’s this time and I would say the experience of the race was much more enjoyable that way- at least since hubby and I were running together. It was nice to hear the encouragement that people yelled as they ran by or the people at the splits. It was in the moments when I was really struggling that it would have been nice to have some upbeat music.

I’ve noticed this every time that I run, but about the first 1/2 mile is tough and then all of the sudden my breathing slows down and it’s much more enjoyable. Because of my cold, I was blowing my nose every 2 minutes- I carried a kleenex pack! lol. Pretty gross, I know. So I think that made this race a little tougher for me. I started to get a pain in my right shoulder and then it spread down to my right side- but I persevered.

Hubby was such a great encouragement. I wish I could run faster- but I gave it my best. I ran the ENTIRE thing- yay! I was still slightly slower than my first 5k. We crossed the finish line at 42:45. The first race was 42:21- so VERY close! We weren’t the last people to finish- but probably the last people that ran the entire way. Some people finished before us that ran and walked some- but I tried not to think about others and tried to focus on competing with myself.

I gave it everything that I had at the very end and I have some very embarrassing pictures to prove it- which I am not going to show you! lol I look like I’m going to die. But they are great pictures that show how hard I am working and I am going to keep them to look back on someday. I’ll show you the pre-race pictures instead. hehe. Here is my sister in law, me and hubby before the race.

Me and Hubby:

I love the experience of a 5k. So far the first 2 races have been completely different experiences. This one seemed more professional or something- lots more people and not as laid back. There were some serious competitors! I am looking forward to running another one- hopefully this Fall with my sister! :)