Fitness Friday: 5K Recap!

Last Saturday I ran my very first 5K race! The temperature was brutal and I hadn't run in longer than I'd care to admit, but I survived and it was fun!

When I say the temperature was brutal, I mean it was flippin' freezing outside. When I got there it was a whopping 10* outside. Luckily, I had plenty of cold weather running layers to keep me toasty warm. 

I wore Under Armor 2.0 base layer pants under a pair of fleece leggings then threw a pair of Adidas shorts over top, more for self conscious comfort than anything. On top, I wore a sports bra, long sleeve cold weather wicking shirt, a t-shirt, and my Under Armor hoodie. I borrowed a pair of weatherproof socks from Jeff to keep my feet warm in my vented sneakers and topped it all off with my favorite Under Armor hat, gloves, and a balaclava. I sported my SPIBelt, but forgot my sunglasses. Whoops! I was plenty warm and honestly wanted to shed a few things towards the end. 

The course was 4 laps of a ~3/4 mile loop around a cute little playground just outside of town. Despite being chilly, it was beautiful outside. We did 2 minutes running, 1 minute walking and it really helped me make it without stopping. Usually, I run 1:1, so I was excited to be able to do 2:1. Even with the walking, we kept a little over an 11 min/mi pace, finishing with an official time of 35:43.  :-)

I can't lie, parts of it were hard and I wanted to stop, but I just kept on going. Running with someone is a welcome distraction from the actual running part.

A huge, huge thank you to Sarah, the sparkliest runner in ever and ever. I still cannot believe I am running and actually enjoying running...at least much more than I thought I ever would. She has this way of talking about running that makes it seem so attainable and real. The passion she has for running and the running community makes you want to get off your butt and run. I never ran before because I didn't think I could run well enough, so why even bother. The truth of the matter is, anyone can run and no matter how slow you are, you're still out there. 

What's next? Who knows! I'm hoping that once Daylight Savings Time kicks in and it doesn't get dark at 5pm, that I can make running a more frequent thing. I'm on the hunt for more races and hope to start training for a half marathon this summer. In the meantime, I'm just runnin'.