I did it! I completed my first 5k! It was a crowded and hilly course, but I had so much fun and I can’t wait for my next race :)
It was even more fun since I was able to share the experience with my cousin, Heidi. She hosted me for the weekend in her adorable neighborhood of North Park, San Diego.
We started the weekend out by making our shirts for the race:
Hopefully it gave the people behind me something to smile about while we ran :)
We attended the packet pick up on Saturday:
Mmmm…chocolate.
When we picked up our race jackets they even had us try them on to make sure we got the correct sizes. Smart move RAM Racing…otherwise there would have be lots of unhappy people with jackets two sizes too small.
We ate dinner at the amazing Ranchos Cocina and called it an early night since we had a 5:20am wake up Sunday.
I was really worried about the potential rain, and very cold conditions on Sunday…but, the weather played nice and my warm layers kept me happy while waiting for the race to start. We were in Corral C by 6:20am and waiting for the start. Heidi’s Madre joined us just in time for the start and we were off!
The first mile was tough, it was really crowded and there were lots of people walking so I had to do a lot of zig-zagging to get a clear path and find my groove. Oh, and we started on a hill. Started. We climbed on an incline for the first mile and a half. Then, we got a short down hill break. Then we hit a huge hill. It was long and steep. Most people were walking so it was impossible to run up. I also made a mistake and grabbed a Gatorade (thinking it was water) and one sip was enough to anger my happy tummy. Heading up that hill I was faced with a choice: fight to run around people and potentially upchuck, or walk. I chose to keep pre-race banana where it belonged.
The downhill was fun, but I’m not too confident on RUNNING down a hill. Remember how once I WALKED down a hill and got a bionic ankle? Yea…
We ran under a freeway overpass and all the volunteers were yelling at the runners to stay to the right…I was confused. People were telling me to leave the course and pointing…Then I turned and saw the pacing bike for the 15k on my right shoulder passing me and leading their runners off the course to the split. Nope! I’m running the 5k! Those 15k runners had many more hills to climb.
A few turns and blocks later I finished in 35:45!
After the race we got this as our reward:
I seriously didn’t think I’d want anything to do with chocolate after the race, but I really liked the fruit so I was happy. See:
The race was really fun, well organized and the weather was beautiful. Such a great first 5k experience.
For our celebration brunch we went to The Mission and I ordered this amazingness:
It’s called the Mission Rosemarry. Order it.
After a shower, and a quick coffee meet with my BFF from high school (who was between water polo games) I hit the road north. I knew it was pouring down rain at home and the drive would be rough…and it was.
ICEE and I were white knuckled a few times, and spent a good deal of the drive in bumper to bumper traffic. 3.5 hours later I was so happy to get home and stretch my tight muscles.
My Mud Run is this Saturday…here’s to a messy race!
The Merfett 