This St. Patrick’s day weekend, I had the awesome experience of going to a 5k. While most people over 21 would not see a 5k as a celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, it was something I would not forget.
Back in January, I made a decision to take my health more seriously. And what better way to motivate myself to train than to sign up for a 5k?
January was off to a good start, until I got into the thick of school and Mother Nature paid a visit. That derailed me for about a week or so. Which turned into almost all of February.
Once March rolled around, I thought all I need to do is just make sure I run a few times before the race so that I make it through. And I told myself, after talking to one of my sorority sisters, that I could finish the 5k in an hour. Did I run/jog/walk leading up to the 5k? No. Did I still think I could do it in an hour? Yes.
So on Saturday, March 17th I woke up at 4:30 am ready to get to the 5k. Luckily, my mom and brother came along with me for support. Shout out to them for coming with me so early in the morning. I didn’t eat that morning and in hindsight maybe I should have had something more sold. Not that anything bad happened to me physically, but food is the body’s energy source.
We arrived at Dodger Stadium around d 6:20 am and after waiting for a while in our very warm car, we went to check in.
From that moment on, the 5k became real. I was so excited to get out onto the course and just be with everyone. So this led me to checking my phone every 10 minutes to see if I was getting any closer to the race starting at 8am.
Leading up to the start, the energy just climbed. At 6:45 am, the energy level was at a solid 6 or 7. But by the time it was less than ten minutes to start, the energy level was at a ten. I was so pumped to go out to the course by then.
Then the race started and I sent through the hills around Dodger Stadium, finishing out the 3 miles in an hour and three minutes. Which means I did exactly what I wanted to do.
In case you do want to run a 5k, here are some things I recommend:
- Train: Even if it is walking around the neighborhood. Eventually add more and more miles so that on the day of, you actually can make it all the way.
- Know your location: I should have been doing a lot of stair master workouts because those hills killed my legs. That would have been a great help to the whole event .
- Have game plan for the run: I honestly did not think that I would need to make a game plan but I’m glad I did. I figured out that if I were to get bored of the podcast I was going to listen to, I could run to some electronic music to keep me going. Luckily I only needed the podcast to keep me going. Also having water in the car for after is great.
- Enjoy: this is such a fun thing to do and it made me want to start running again. Which means that I 100% need to train for the next one
Even though I did not run the whole 5k or even one mile, I felt so good just being part of something so fun like that. And I look forward to doing it again. But this time with more running under my belt. All in all, the morning was so much fun and I totally recommend that everyone do a 5k race. It was full of moments where I had to tell and convince myself to do something I didn’t particularly like. Turns out, I actually listen.
-Joss
Advertisements
Good for you!! I ran my first 5k a couple years ago and now it’s my favorite distance. 😊
LikeLike