Ryan's Run 5K

I don't hate 5K's like I used to. I haven't fallen in love with them, either. There is something about running as hard as you can for 20ish minutes that kind of sucks, yet is very exhilarating upon completion!! I can't quite describe, but I have a feeling that most of you understand what I am trying to say!

Friday night wasn't ideal. Dinner wasn't until 9PM and I had two drinks that accompanied it. I was enjoying the night with family and friends and before I knew it, it was almost midnight.

I woke up bright and early (5:15AM) to get ready for the 5K. Nothing new, nothing special. I just got to the race early so that I could register and warm up. I ran 2 miles at 9:13 average pace. It felt good.

The race started and we took off! I'd run this course before and I actually really like this course. I knew my splits from then and wanted to be at least close to them!!

Wow!! My goal for mile one was 6:40. For whatever reason, I though that would be fairly easy and that would be me holding back. I hit mile 1 in 6:42 and I felt a little winded. I knew I wasn't quite at that crash and burn state but I wasn't so sure about "picking up the pace" either!

We hit the first turn and I count the girls in front of me. First place is way in front, but the other girls were not so far. I only counted five girls in front of me. I was in sixth place.

No one passed me for the rest of the race and I happened to pass a few guys. Sadly, I didn't pass any of the females.

Mile 2 was 6:50. This was 20 seconds slower than my mile 2 on this course last time. UGH!! I was trying though. I never gave into the pain and kept pushing. At 2.3 miles, my pace said 7:06. I made myself push and kept running faster. I was able to run mile 3 in 6:52.

I gave it everything that I had during that last little bit. I ended up running the .13 in 43 seconds (5:49 pace). As I approached the finish line, I saw the clock already in the 21's. I was so upset but I really couldn't have run harder. Not yesterday at least! I finished in 21:09.

I won my age group and was the sixth overall female. While I'm happy about those stats, I'm a little upset with my time.

As I was talking to my friend, Jen, afterwards, she reminded me that it was SUPER humid and it's basically already summer in Tampa. She reminded that it's very likely that even with increased speed and effort that my race times will continue to rise over the next six months. Then, come October and November, they will drop drastically. I had almost forgotten about that! 85+% humidity with temperatures in the mid 70's doesn't always equal PR. But, it doesn't mean that I can't try!!