Red Shoe Run 5k 2017 Race Recap
There is something about racing that is, for lack of a better word, magical. Maybe it’s the early morning wake up call, or the feeling of being surrounded by hundreds of other people who are passionate about the same thing, or maybe it’s the crowd cheering you on, or maybe it’s the black toenails. (Okay << it’s definitely not that one.)
This past Saturday, was my first race postpartum and I couldn’t help but feel super excited about not only how it went, but how I felt.
Let’s start at the beginning though, because I’m sure all of you want to know exactly how my day went. 😉
My alarm went off early at 4:50 and I woke up excited and slightly nervous. I knew this race was going to give me a good indication of where I am physically and in my running fitness and I was hoping I wouldn’t be disappointed. This particular race, I’ve run three or four years in a row and each time I’ve placed. Although it is super exciting to place, I always put pressure on myself to place again, which really is not the right mindset. Days before the race, I talked with Landon and prayed through that feeling of needing to finish first and decided to walk into the race with zero expectations, but give it my all and see what happened.
Anyways, once I woke up, race morning, I felt ready to conquer the 5k, but there was something still in the back of my mind that wanted to place in my division. I quickly made myself a cup of coffee, toasted a bagel, and got myself in my race clothes. About a half an hour later, Landon, Benaiah, and I were off and headed to meet my mom (who was running the race with me!) and my sisters.
Isn’t my mom super adorable? We got there in plenty of time, which allowed me to feed Benaiah, use the bathroom, pin on my bib number, stretch, you know, all the important things.
Shout out to my amazing support crew, Abby and Emily, who helped watch Benaiah while Landon, mom and I ran!
Not too long passed and we were off! Landon and I agreed before hand, that we both wanted to run at our own pace and see how we both did as individuals. This was Landon’s first 5k (he’s run a half marathon before) and he wanted to see what he could do! Not two strides into the race and I lost sight of that guy. Man, he is fast! He later informed me, that his first mile was just at 6 min.
As much as I wanted to chase him down, I held myself back and restrained the inner competitive side of myself. I knew I wanted to have negative splits this race, so I made sure to keep an eye on my pace and just have fun.
I quickly realized that I should have worn gloves when I noticed my hands were numb. Thankfully, after mile one, the wind was pointed in a different directions and my hands then had time to defrost. Lesson learned: next time, bring gloves.
My first mile was a 7:35 and when I looked down at my watch and saw the pace, I was pretty happy with that. Once we were half way through the race, I saw Landon lapping me and noticed he was not too far behind the top pack. I cheered him on as he passed and seeing him motivated me to push a little harder.
A little after I turned at the halfway point, I saw my mom pass and cheered her on. That is one thing I love about running racing, cheering for one another is a special gift!
The second mile passed quickly and I kept reminding myself to run light, keep good form, and to keep my proper breathing up. This particular race ends on a uphill, and since I have run this race before, I knew that to pull back a tiny bit, before giving it my all on the last .15. Right when I made it to the uphill portion of the race, my legs began to feel that heavy weight, but instead of listening to my body and plopping myself down right on the pavement, I pushed through and ran across the finish line!
I grabbed some water and found Abby, Emily, Landon and Benaiah and heard that Landon beat me by two minutes!
My mom came in at 30 minutes and once she crossed the finish line, we headed inside to warm up, grab post-run snacks and goodies and make our way to the awards.
The race supplied bagels, juice, bananas, granola bars, and water for post run snacks. I grabbed a bagel, banana, and water, before we headed into the award ceremony! We listened to testimonies about organ donation (the cause the race supports) and shortly after, the awards were distributed to their rightful owners. Landon came in second place in his division and was 22nd overall (out of 400 people!) I came in first in my division and was 51st overall! I was super pumped with how I finished and couldn’t have been more thrilled to receive the trophy!
We spent the rest of the day relaxing, which you can read all about here.
This race, I learned
- Going in with realistic expectations is key. (I thought I already knew this, but I relearned it on Saturday.)
- Bring gloves if you are racing in early April.
- Drinking a good amount of water before the race helped me feel super hydrated and not need to grab any water at aid stations. (This was only a 5k, though.)
- Running in glasses is harder than running in contacts.
- Running with family is the best.
- Cross training + strength training make running easier and makes me feel stronger!
- Bagels before racing = a good idea. Bagels before and after racing = an even better idea.
- Stretch wherever and whenever you can after racing. My mom and I laid out on the floor to stretch while lots of runners almost walked on us. The things you did to stay injury free.
I can’t wait to run this race again and chase down some big time goals! I hope you guys have a fantastic Wednesday and I will catch you tomorrow.
Questions of the Day
- What is your favorite race type? 5k, 10k, half or full?
- What is your NUMBER ONE racing tip? I want to hear your advice!
- Do you have any upcoming races?