Hy-Vee 5K

If you didn’t see my post from Saturday, I’ll catch you up! I ran my first 5k in 18 months…the first one post baby! It was a challenge, but I finished and I’m proud of what I did.

The weather was much different than expected. A day or so ago the forecast said it was supposed to be sunny and 73 degrees…but I woke up this morning to fog, chilly, and 48 degrees! Woa!

I didn’t let that stop me though! Threw on my sneakers and headed the 3-4 miles to the race location…I love hometown races! Kyle and Adelyn were in tow as well, official race cheerleaders!

The race was held at a park just outside of the town where I live, thankfully they had REAL bathrooms! I took advantage of that, got a few good luck kisses from my race cheerleaders and headed for the start line, nerves and all.

The race started at 9:30am sharp. I was a little too close to the front and started out quick. At one point I looked down at my Garmin and it said I was pacing at 7:45…not my 10 minute normal. Somewhere around that same time I spotted my race cheerleaders…only 1/4 mile into the race. This is where I backed off a little and got to a more comfortable pace!

To say that this race was a challenge is no joke! Little did I know that this park not too far from my house was filled with HILLY trails! Yep my first non flat race! Here’s a side note, I live in Iowa…the FLAT LANDS, I never run hills!

Ok, back to the race recap…the first hills weren’t too bad, but later in the race it did start to wear on me. I ended up finishing the race with a walk/run routine, which I was was A-ok with. I felt like the slog (SLow-jOG) I was doing up hill wasn’t anymore productive than a power walk.

My ALL TIME favorite race cheerleaders were waiting for me at mile 3. It was so refreshing to see Kyle and Adelyn and it gave me the “umph” I needed to finish that last 0.10 miles strong!

I blew them kisses and was off to finish my first 5k since having a baby! At the end of the race route you had to run right past the finish line and do this little loop…such a tease!

I did it, finished my 5th 5k, 1st one post-baby!!!! I don’t have an official time yet, but my Garmin said 37:02. And I’m proud of that!

I grabbed a banana and 1/2 bagel and met up with this sweet girl who was waiting for me in the warm car! (it was too cold for her & daddy to be outside too long)

This was the first year this race was put on and they did an exceptional job! I’ve ran both big and small races and you never would have known that this was the first go-around. First class race! Great volunteers, well marked course, and awesome goodies!

I’m proud of what I accomplished today, it wasn’t easy, but I did it! I’m looking forward to more races this year!  

(Don’t worry we didn’t let her drive home!)