Happy Thanksgiving! Inspired by my friend Courtney at EatPrayRunDC, race recaps will be a regular part of my blog. Races keep me running, and keep me challenging myself. I’m going to be honest and accountable about how my training is going along the way, so I’ll also share how the actual race went.
The Gobble Wobble 5K in Littleton, CO was my last race of 2016. I was visiting my parents for Thanksgiving, and we did this event 2 years ago. The original plan was for my mom, sister, brother, sister-in-law and I to all go, while my dad watched my nephew. Well, life intervenes, and my brother, sister-in-law and nephew couldn’t make it. So my dad did it with us instead!
The Gobble Wobble is a pretty local race, about 1300 people participate, everyone from high school athletes (looking at you sub-16:00 winner) to people walking dogs, grandpa pushing strollers, people in costumes, and everything in between.
It’s also pretty. I mean, come on, it’s Colorado. The 5k is at Clement Park, and goes around the lake, so there’s lake, there’s a mountain view, and then there’s some hills. Oh, and altitude (Mile High City).
We already had our packets, so we showed up a little before 8, exchanged our shirts, and parked. My other three family members were walking, so they headed towards the back of the group as the crowd was called to the start. I put myself about a third of the way back.
It felt good to run! There were the annoyances of people walking who had lined up amongst runners, and dirt and a narrow path, but it’s felt good to run, to get my heart rate up, to breathe. I didn’t stop for water and ran the whole thing, only looking at my watch once. My hip also didn’t hurt at all! And as the whipped cream on my pumpkin pie- I ended with a new 5K PR! 27:53 which means a pace of under 9:00 min/mile! Short races are a weakness of mine, and I hadn’t really done speed work since being hurt in late summer. So this was a surprise but a really good one! This was also my only PR of 2016, so it’s extra special. Hopefully I can do some strengthening and speed work this winter, and maybe 2017 will be a year of more PRs.