Last weeks 5K

It's been a very busy week, being on vacation in Denver, and all! But I wanted to post quickly about the 5K I did last Saturday with my friends.

Anyway, the race went really well. I didn't get much sleep the night before because Paul was on a father/son campout with Andy and Canon. I don't know why it's so hard to actually go to bed when your spouse isn't there! I also rarely sleep well the night before a race... you know, all those crazy dreams about being late and not being able to find your shoes. I did manage to get some sleep and woke up early to get ready and drop off Charlie at Emily's house. An awesome young woman in our ward (thanks again, Sarah!) was willing to come over at 6:45 am to watch our two toddlers. She was an angel and total life saver for both Emily and me!

We got to the high school and got registered. I had meant to register weeks ahead of time, but never managed to. I was actually glad, though, because they were out of their lame t-shirts, meaning the registration was only $10 instead of $15! Sweet! We then spent some time looking for some of our other friends running the race. Those we saw from the ward were Jina, Monica, and Tina. It was fun to have so many people to congratulate at the end of the race! This picture is of Emily, Jina and me.

The race started right at 7:30, but because there were SO MANY PEOPLE packed in at the starting line, it took a good 5-10 seconds before you could even start moving! I quickly took off, though, and weaved in and out of people until I could find some space to run. It's amazing how much easier it is to run at a quicker pace when you have other people running with you. A lot of my running lately has been solo. I was able to keep my pace between a 9-9:30 minute pace for most of the three miles, with some slowing down during and after the hill. I felt really good, though, and just kept pushing it along! That 3rd mile is always the toughest for me, though. The race ended with a lap around the track and once I saw the timer above the finish line, I really tried to kick it into gear and finish before the clock hit 28:30. Once the times were posted as we were leaving, it said my official time was 28:28! I was so thrilled! Here is a picture of myself, Monica, Jina and Emily after the race was finished. We hung around after to see if we won any of the cool raffle prizes, but unfortunately, none of our numbers were called. Better luck next year, I guess!

This wasn't my fastest time for a 5K, but this one felt especially good to me. Last year when all my friends and I did a 5K on July 24th in Mapleton, I came in DEAD LAST by many MINUTES! I wasn't out to prove anything this year, but I did want to redeem myself a little. I admit that it feels good that I came in fastest this time, but it's not something I expect to do everytime. Emily is going to be catching me any day now! But, all my friends ended up doing a really great job with this race and I am so proud of them! I'm glad that running is something we all enjoy doing together. Thanks for a fun morning, gals!