FroYo 5k Recap

It's was a beautifully cool morning on May 9th. Perfect for a 5k.

The FroYo 5k started at 9AM, but I always worry about parking and race morning packet pick-up, so I wanted to leave early. This was a local race, but it was at a park that I'd never been to before. I'm glad I left early because I *may* have gotten a little lost on the way. And I was *so* close to the park. So close that I was on part of the course. lol.

I finally arrived and there was still plenty of parking. Whoo hoo!

And I was still early enough that packet pick-up was a breeze.

After hanging out and killing time for a bit, George and I met up with some friends.

The whole group. I only knew 2 of these peeps before race day.

An official photo of a few of us. 

As you probably know I've been kind of chasing a sub-25 minute 5k, so in the back of my mind, I was kind of hoping this would be my race.

And then I saw this the day before the race.

You see that elevation profile? Crazy, right?!

I'm sure there are hillier courses out there, and steeper hills as well, but my 5k PR was on a very flat course, so I wasn't holding my breath for a PR.

George and I started with the 9:00 min pace group. The first hill was crazy! I wanted to walk some of it. So. Bad.

But I didn't. Good thing it was at least cool out; I was wearing arm warmers, after all.

I'm kind of a flat running girl. Uphills make it hard to breathe; downhills hurt my knees (and I fear that I'll fall). But after about the first mile, and slowing down too much on the uphills for my liking, I decided that no matter what, I would try to push myself on the downhills at least. Something I rarely do.

It actually felt pretty good! And that I could give myself a tiny break on the next uphill. :-D

There were a few times when I was pretty tempted to walk, but I DIDN'T! I just kept plugging away. Easing back a tiny bit on the uphills and flying (to my mind) on the downhills.

Probably around mile 2.5 or so, I took off my arm warmers. I was cruising! And getting a little warm. lol.

I could taste the finish line ... and the FroYo ... so I kept pushing it and pushing it.

Suddenly, it was within sight.

George: Ready to really push it to the end?
Me: No yet.
Me: But you can go ahead, if you want.

A few steps later...

Me: Okay, I'm ready. Let's do this.

And we took off to finish STRONG! Shortly after, a little kid ran onto the course and almost tripped George. :/

But we kept going, and we finished HARD.

It might not look like it here, but trust me, I was booking it!

After walking around a bit, so I could catch my breath, we headed to the FREE FROYO! That was the point of the race, after all.

I got cheesecake FroYo with a couple toppings (gummy bears and ???). It was good, but maybe not the best FroYo I'd ever had.

So, do you want to know how I did? Did I beat that PR?

No.

But I did come in 54th overall out of 782, so I was pretty pleased with that.

My time was 26:38. Which when you think about it, it's that not that far off from my PR of 26:33. And did I mention the hills?

Of course, the course was a little short, closer to 3 miles than 3.1, but I'm still very happy with how I did at this race.

As we were eating our FroYo, another woman said to me, "I tried to keep up with you at the end. You passed me, and I just couldn't keep up. Great job!"

#BestComplimentEver!

It was a beautiful morning and a super fun race (despite the hills), and I'd probably do it again.
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