Race Recap: Run Like a Girl 5k

All the swag! (Including a jump rope)

Run Like a Girl is an all female race and took place Sunday, September 11 at 8:00 am in Columbus, Ohio. There were three distances: 5k, 10k, and half marathon. I ran the 5k. 

Sign Up
Three of the four ladies I ran with in Nashville wanted to get together for another race. The other three signed up for the 10k, but when I went to look at registration and saw the 10k was two loops I was like, "no way José."

Goals
Knowing I'd be running a shorter distance and hoping (back in July) that it would be cooler, I considered trying for a PR. But as summer progressed and my training flailed in the heat, I let go of that goal. I looked up last year's results and saw that if I finished around 25 minutes I'd be in the top 20-30. Sunday morning was relatively mild (59-60 degrees), so I revisited my goals once more:
A. New PR
B. Between 25:00 and 26:00
C. Just run and don't get passed by too many people

I moved up after I took this photo. 

The Race

Pre race photo

We got there around 7:25am and stood in the potty lines. My only complaint about this race (ok, besides keeping the bananas in full sun and allowing them to ... melt?) was the number of potties. There were maybe a dozen. C'mon a race for women should know ladies have to pee before and we need lots of bathrooms. We stood in line for eons and if we'd be running the half we would have missed the start. Luckily, the 5k/10k start was delayed a few minutes. We went up to the line where they were calling out paces for everyone place themselves. I don't normally go to the front, but based on last year's results I decided to move up closer to the start.

Around 8:15/8:20 we were off. I knew the first mile was downhill, second mile flat-ish, and the third mile was hilly, so I planned to go out fast. I felt really good and I honestly didn't feel like I was going that quickly... it just felt strong. Imagine my surprise when my first mile chimed 7:03 (!!!). Not only is that a huge mile PR (previous 7:40), but it made me wonder if my Garmin was working.

We ran past the water stop at 1.5, then hit a turn-around and I could still see the leader and her bike escort. There were probably 20 or so people in front of me. Pretty cool. But of course this was where the sun hit my face (no hat! no sunglasses!) and I was thirsty (but didn't want to stop). Naturally, I slowed down.

Miles 2 and 3 were a significant slowdown compared to mile 1. Thing is, I felt tired, but it wasn't mile 1's fault. I didn't go out too hard; the course got more challenging. But I kept moving. We ran by another water stop at 2.5 and turned the final corner to see a hill to the finish. Once again: Columbus is pretty flat... but the last 3 or 4 tenths of the race included a 60ft hill. Needless to say, I did not sprint in, but I was very thankful I wasn't running the 10k!

With our wine!

Post Race

Wahoo!! 

I finished under 25:00, but wasn't sure if I had a PR because my Garmin has a fake 5k PR from a track workout. I did confirm my first mile was 7:03! Holy cow!! (Now I want to "race" a mile!!)

I stood around for a bit, collected a water and some freebies, then saw one of my pals who decided to stop at 5k due to foot pain. We wandered around the vendor area then picked up our free bottle of wine (I got red) from the gentlemen in tuxedos. It was cute. The other two ladies finished their 10k under an hour, so we wandered around a bit more, then head home.

Stats and Thoughts
All in all, it was a lovely day. The weather couldn't have been better! When we were on our drive home I looked up my results and could not believe it:

Final time: 24:54  (24:35 at 3.1! New PR!)
Overall: 4 / 674 (!!!)
Age Group: 1 / 192  (!!!)

I know the "fast" people ran the longer distances and many of the 20 ladies ahead of me continued on to the 10k. But whatever! I ran a steady race and broke my PR. After I finished I was tired-ish, but mostly thirsty. My training's been so inconsistent vs. this past winter, so deep down I know I can shave off even more time on miles 2 and 3. So while I'm happy, I'm already thinking ahead.

The medal (nice that they gave one for every distance)

Up Next: next Saturday's Indy Women's Half... or 5k. I'm unsure whether I'll stick to the half as a training run or try a faster 5k on a flat course. There may be thunderstorms, so doing the 5k would at least guarantee a race finish if it's anything like last year. We shall see...