Esprit de She 5K

This is how we hydrate!

After last week’s hot, humid 5K I decided to give it another shot at evening racing and was thrilled that the temperature was nearly 20 degrees cooler but still humid, yuck L Since we were both coming off injury and both of our husband’s were home, my friend GacGirl and I met early for a pre-race glass of wine J Why not? I knew racing was out of the question and after I ran into a friend/co-worker who is a sub 3 hour marathoner on the way I knew I had no chance of winning. Got to love speedy Midwest runners, this race was won 6-7 minutes faster than any other Esprit de She race across the US!

Me in the pink!

I had falsely thought this would be a flat course, wow was I wrong! Hills and 5Ks are not a good combination when you have just been cleared to start speedwork. I lined up at the front and ran into a couple college friends, it was great to catch up while we waited (an extra 15 minutes) for race start. We were finally off and I decided to push the first (flattest) mile and back off as the race went (dumb strategy but when you are only using it for speedwork training take advantage of the easier part).

Love seeing my sorority girls!

Mile 1: 6:58 Nice, but here come the hills. The course wove through neighborhood streets, past parks and streams. It was great seeing so many people out in their yards cheering. It continues hill after hill and finally to the turn around, I grab a sip of water and go. On the way back I keep my eyes out for the many other runners I know on the course and cheer them on as we pass.

Mile 2: 7:30 Yep, knew those hills would get the best of me! It’s okay my leg is pain free and the shoes are feeling great. Just keep running, push when you can and back off when needed. More hills and yikes, I didn’t realize how humid it was! I see final turn and the finish line! Oops guess I missed the Mile 3 marker. I give the final push and am done! Just under 22:00 ( I once again forgot to stop my watch and looked after grabbing water when I saw 22:09. Not bad for just being back to real running. Best part, No Pain! J

KT Tape love!

I talked to my speedy friend who took 2^nd in 16 something, impressive! And waited for other friends to finish before changing shirts and enjoying the fun post-race. We hit Athleta to spend my gift card then grabbed our post-race wine, yes wine and not beer. This was perfect J There was also yoga outside, music and food. It was a fun event and great night to be out, the businesses did a great job of making things fun and not too crazy with the crowds. I am looking forward to running the 10K in our other local Esprit de She in September, but hope to race next time!

Do you race for fun? Or is it always about trying to PR?

Have a great weekend and stay active. Did you win the Drenched 5K giveaway?