A Cold Winter's Day 5K

Let's start this one out by noting one important factor: it's rarely ever cold in Columbia.

So the fact that this race is named "A Cold Winter's Day" seems a little suspect.

Except at race time, it was 30 degrees outside. Around here, you definitely consider that to be cold. I showed up wearing my usual tank top and shorts and made friends with quite a few people who stopped to comment on my lack of warm running gear.

It was my first year running this race but I was pretty excited about it ahead of time. Everything that I had heard about the race was that it was flat and fast. My running ego was in desperate need of a major boost after the Kiawah Half earlier in the month.

Spoiler alert: I wouldn't call this race "flat" but I'd definitely call it fast.

Mile 1

Why are there SO MANY HILLS on this course? Up and down and up and down. At least it isn't all completely uphill and I know I can focus on a downhill finish.

The one and only mid-race time check point/water stop was at mile 1. I cruised through here around 9:25/9:30 so while I was on pace to finish in under 30 minutes, I wasn't on pace for a PR. That's fine. This race wasn't about hitting a PR - it was about getting back to running.

Mile 2
Just keep running, running, running...

I don't know why I ever thought this race was flat. I must have mixed it up with another one? Because y'all this race was anything but flat. I don't remember a single flat portion. You were either going uphill or you were running back down one.

Mile 3

Here we go: the final home stretch! A straight, hilly mile down Trenholm Road towards the start/finish line. There were a few more hills to run up but I'm fairly certain that the last half mile was nothing but a downhill free for all.

I kicked it up a notch knowing that the race was almost over and because it was taking a lot less energy to put one foot in front of the other going downhill. I knew I was going faster than I usually run when I got a pretty good side cramp in the last tenth of a mile of the race.

But it was worth it at the finish line.

Final Results

Watch Time - 28:46

Chip Time - 28:41

Pace - 9:15/mile

Age Group - 4/17
Gender - 48/163

Overall - 123/288



What a way to finish out 2016. It was a great morning for running and I finished really, really well. I was only 5 seconds off of my PR and I am more than happy with that! You can definitely tell that I was struggling with the up and down throughout miles 1 and 2 but check out mile 3. 8:46. Destroyed it.

I have a lot of races planned for the next 3-4 months. There's a new pair of running shoes in my life, plenty of cold weather, and a lot of football free Saturdays... there's definitely more races headed my way soon.

Next up: Red Shoe Run 10K on January 21.

Can I break 1 hour? Hope so! For now... I am pretty happy.