Race Takeaway: Just get out there and get moving.

Saturday, August 10th I ran my first 5K since giving birth to Chase 8 weeks ago. I was in no way in shape to race so this would be just a chance to get out and have another workout. I’ve been running only when it’s worked with our schedule. Each run ranging from 2 miles to 6 miles, but with no consistency at this point.

My goals were very easy: 1) get in a workout, 2) try to beat my 5K time when I was 7 months pregnant

The weather was perfect, especially for August in Illinois. It was upper 60s / low 70s and sunny.

This was also Chase’s first real outing with the public. 🙂 We didn’t have her out and held or touched by anyone since she still very young. She just hung out in her car seat that we attached to our Mountain Buggy Terrain. Rob and Chase watched me race since Chase’s head/neck strength is still developing and this course would have bumps in it as it crosses a gravel lot.

It was nice to get out and see our friends and catch up on how their racing was going this season.

I got in a 1 mile warm up beforehand. Then I lined up about middle of the group, knowing I wouldn’t be taking off very fast. Still my first mile was faster than I planned and I am still re-learning how to gauge my effort. This race is an out and back and is on a road that is exposed to the sun and it did feel quite hot halfway through.

By mile 2 my legs were smoked and I just held on to finish as strong as I could. It made me realize how hard racing really is! It feels harder than I remember anyways. 🙂

Rob got a picture of me coming back to the finish.

26:56 and I met my goals. Plus Chase slept the whole time, which is a bonus to know that she wasn’t fussy about the outing. 🙂

Stats:

26:56

8:41 Pace

F 35-39: 5/?

Overall: 80/219

Past performances:

2012 Evergreen Lake – 5K – 22:13

2011 Evergreen Lake – 5K – 20:03

2009 Evergreen Lake – 5K – 23:45