5Ks

Another year, another list of races to run.

To be quite honest, I had not run at all since Thanksgiving Day at the 10k Run for the Hungry. And since then, I've only been committed to barre classes. Barre, my one and only source of exercise, got me through my first 5k of 2013.

Hazel & I ran the Puppy Love 5K race that supports the Helen Woodward Center for orphaned animals. The race took place in Solana Beach along the 101 and we were allowed to have our furry friends run with us. The sponsorship this race received was incredible- people must really love animals! And the race was pretty cool, although it was a little weird to do the same loop within a loop. The last part of the course was a gradual uphill, which didn't help my time. And speaking of which, when I crossed the finish line I noticed it was my worst time yet. I was considering all the factors (aka, excuses lol!)... running with Cloie, the repeating loop, the cold & frigid morning weather, the uphill finish--- only to find out later that the course was not measured accurately. I felt something was off and it was definitely longer than a 5k, so I'll take that into consideration. I was really beginning to question my endurance, wtf?! :)

More recently, the San Diego Half Marathon/5K took place and it was an awesome race. For this race, I rolled deep and rallied up my peeps. There were six of us and it was a lot of fun seeing everyone run in, one after the other. Makes me so proud, even Glen who ran it practically drunk. He had quite a few beers the night before at a friend's 40th birthday party and with the time changing forward, he still managed to cross the finish line before the five of us. Geeeez!

my drunk man & I

As I mentioned, this race was awesome for many reasons- mainly because I got my PR and ran it under 30 minutes, when I was only focusing on finishing it just at half an hour. This just sets the bar now for my future 5K runs and actually inspires me to run a half marathon that is coming up very, very soon. I haven't signed up (committed to) it yet, but I am so close to hitting the register button. A separate post will let you know soon! Anyways, the race was from point A to point B (Hillcrest to Downtown) and I love when races are set up that way, there were no hills, a medal at the finish line, a scenic run and it was extremely well organized. Probably the most organized race I've participated in. From signing up to crossing the finish line, they had everything coordinated to a tee! I would surely run this race next year, however I'm hopeful that I can step it up and run the half marathon!

Go Team!