Post Bunny Hop 5K

I convinced three of my friends to run a 5K with me over Easter weekend while we were all at home. Luckily, I have some pretty great friends that didn't mind {too much} waking up early on a Saturday morning to go run 3.1 miles around downtown Columbia.

Several things happened right as we took of running at the start line of this 5K.

1. It started raining

2. I remembered that I hadn't taken my medicine for my allergies/sinus infection that morning

3. I {as always} cheesed for the camera

Not long after that, I started getting the worst cramp and all I could think about was what in the world had I done/not done in preparing for this race to get a cramp.

Was it because I was having issues breathing because I hadn't remembered to take my medicine?

Was it because I didn't drink enough water on Friday?

So I slowed down to breathe. It helped out a little.

But all I could think about the entire time was how annoyed I was with myself for getting a cramp and how I was probably going to end up with a terrible 5K time because of how slow I was running. I was frustrated to say the least. What was I doing all of this running for during the week if race day was going to be awful?

Then the sky fell out.

I've never run in pouring down rain before but I can check that off my list now.

Finally, I rounded the corner and saw the finish line and sprinted towards it.

I crossed over the line, stopped my TomTom, and took a minute to breathe. Once I caught my breath, I started walking towards where everyone was waiting and decided to see just how badly I did.

29:09?

Are you kidding me?!

I will never understand how what I thought was one of my very worst 5Ks ended up being my best. I'm totally ok with it though.

I'm also totally ok with the fact that it wasn't my inability to breathe super well or not enough water that caused that cramp. It was the ridiculous pace that we were all running at the beginning of the race. For me to have slowed down and still set a PR? That first mile had to have been 8:30... which would have absolutely caused a cramp.

& yup, the first mile in 8:28 followed by two super slow miles.

Shout out to momma who a) woke up super early b) stood in the rain to watch me run & c) took a ton of awesome pictures!

Momma's doing what they do best: cheering on their daughters!

Also, shout out to my friends. They're pretty speedy.

Drew & Lindsey finished the race in 27:23!

Amy finished in 28:40!

Final Results
Time - 29:09
Pace - 9:16/mile
Age Group - 14/37
Gender - 59/243
Overall - 153/399