5K MANIA!

My lovely husband put the idea in my mind that we should do the Groton Road Race this year since last year I had to bail because spring weekend was the same weekend.  I told him I just needed to see what was happening work wise since in April anything can happen. 

Well about a month a go I brought up that I had the Sunday off and we could do the Groton Road Race. WHOOT WHOOT!

Not so much. My husband flat out said no, not this year.

SADFACE WIFE.

Well this past week it was so nice out and we have been doing really well with our workouts we both were feeling great and soooooo….over text I asked once again if we could do the Groton Road Race {i am stubborn what can I say!}.

This is how the text went down 3 days before the race…

Me: I’m still kinda sorta thinking of  doing the Groton 5k and it is only 22 bucks to register. Any thoughts? {waiting for the hella no answer again…}

Husband: Sign us up!

UMMMMMM excuse me?? That is all it took was one text??? Where was this person a month ago???

Hey I will take what I can get! So I signed us up and I was a bit frightened because I have been doing circuit training rather than the running I was doing about a month ago to try to switch things up a bit.  I didn’t know if I was really ready for a 5k since I had slowed my running down but hey it was going to be beautiful day for running and really WHY NOT?!  I ran a mile and a half around Lowell and I was feeling good and so I was like great I will be able to kick this 5k in the BOOTY!

So we woke up this past Sunday morning and I had the breakfast of champions: 1/4 cup of plain nonfat yogurt, cut up strawberries, cut of banana and vanilla almond granola.  I absolutely hate the taste of this plain nonfat yougurt I bought, but I have a huge container of it so I am just adding everything I can to the bowl in order to down it every other morning.  It definately gave me the fuel I needed for the race and it keeps me really full until lunch time during the week.

The self timer photo on top of the microwave, which has become a staple in this family the last 8 months. HAHA

We got there early because we didn’t pick up our packets the day before since both of us had been working.  My lovely husband was worried it would be a mad house and it would take forever so we left 2 1/2 hours prior to the start time of our race.  We got there super early and there were no lines and so it was quick and easy.  We were able to watch the Tot’s trot, and 2k and literally we family/dog watched the entire morning.  There really can’t be anything more priceless than seeing 1-6 year olds running a race they have no clue is really a race. priceless. I wish I could have gotten pictures of all of the great activities that were happening with families, but our camera was in our car and so alas, no pictures of all the fun.  I even got a FREE massage before the race…BONUS!

Since it was a walk from the car to the start of the 5k we only took pictures near the car right before the race was going to begin… {i will preface that I am a total dork in front a camera!}

I am surprised I have friends or a husband acting like this…{me pretending to run}

My semi-normal husband right before the race {no points for creativity or originality!}

And of course the after-math picture in the parking lot of Panera Bread for our victory lunch…CRAZY RED FACE!

Overall, the race went really well! I was clocking about 12 minute miles when I was doing 3-4 mile runs before the circuit training I was doing.  My goal was to keep the 12 minute miles for the race and of course the ultimate goal is to get to 30 minutes.  Anything between 30-36 minutes would have been a great success for me for my first 5k EVERRR and the first one of the year. My husband said right before the musket went off that I should shoot for 35 minutes and I said YES! and off we went….

My husband has a ton of gangle and stamina so I knew I would not be pacing with him but we wished each other luck as we approached about a quarter of a mile into the race.  I kept a steady pace and felt really good and at the 1 mile mark I was at 10:20! OH EM GEE definately better than I thought! I was still doing well and just slowed down my pace a little bit to get up 2 stupid {aka awful hills!} and a little after the top I hit the 2 mile marker and I was 20:30 and so the second mile I did in 10:10 but with two hills. WHAT WHAT! I was definately really excited about my pace so far but I could tell that the hills completely wiped me out and I hit a wall.  I had to stop twice between mile 2 and 3, which really really bothered me and I had to significantly slow my roll…

and so for my first 5k I ran it is 33:00 minutes!!!

Which is 11 minute miles although the last mile took me a little less than 13 minutes.  I was really proud and really excited that I finished the race strong by sprinting the last .1 miles.   Something that I definately learned that I need to work on is running with hills!! There are not many hills where I run and on the treadmill I never increase the incline and so that will be what I work on this month to prepare for the next 5k is the HILLS! I know that I can do it within 30 minutes I just need to recover better on hills that come my way!  I was uber pumped and it definately charged me up to start to do a mixture of circuits and running because another 5k in May is on our horizon.

If you didn’t enough pictures here are two more of us actually in the race {and not just pretending to run in the parking lot}.   We look like we are in so much pain but really we had a great time and felt sweet victory at the end…

Any suggestions of a pretty 5k in the New England area in the next couple months??