Baltimore Women's Classic 5K Race Recap

Gun time: 28:46 (9:16)
Chip Time: 28:20 (9:07)
Garmin Time: 27:40 (8:55)
316/2689 Overall (12%)
31/180 15-19 Age Group (17%)

I am going to start off by saying that this weekend was probably not the best for a 5K, or any race for that matter. My parent's friends came in late Friday night so we stayed up until around 2:00 in the morning catching up with them and having some drinks. I was planning on sleeping in on Saturday but woke up at 9:30. Normally that would have been enough sleep but I was already behind on sleep from the beginning of the week. Saturday was spent hanging out by the pool, eating lots of seafood, and relaxing. It was a super fun day but pretty tiring. I ended up eating far too much food and actually felt sick from it all. Around 9:00 on Saturday night Callen and I headed down to his house since the race was 30 minutes closer from his house. The only problem was that we ended up going to sleep around 1:00 in the morning and had to be up at 5:00 to get to the race.

When the alarm went off Sunday morning Callen and I were both super tired and not wanting to get out of bed. With a little push, we were awake and starting to get ready. I only ate a banana for breakfast since I was still full from Saturday's eating festivities. We left his house around 5:45 for the 45 minute drive into Baltimore. Between parking and walking to the race it was about 6:45 by the time we got there. I had already picked up my bib and timing chip so there wasn't much to do once we got there other than use the bathroom and just relax. The race start and finish were right by the harbor so we walked around a little to loosen up and enjoy the beautiful views. About 10 minutes before the start of the race everyone started lining up. We were supposed to line up according to our pace but the pace markers were 7 min and 10 min. I was aiming at running the race around 9 min/mile or faster so neither of these really worked for me but I just went with the 10 min/mile because I figured other people were in the same situation. Exactly at 8:00 the race started and we were off.

The first mile felt really great. I was passing people like crazy and felt strong and fast. My goal was to start out conservatively and then get faster with each mile. Even though I was going fast and I didn't feel like I wouldn't be able to go faster. During this mile I was really getting into a groove and I was thinking that this was going to be a really fast race. I finished the first mile in 9:02 according to my Garmin. When I saw my time I knew I was doing really well and just wanted to keep it up for the next 2 miles.

Mile 2 was even better than the first. I continued to keep up a great pace and pace lots of people. There was a hill during mile 2 that I totally killed. I pushed both the uphill and the downhill and felt amazing. I knew I was strong on hills and used this to my advantage to blow by tons of people. By the end of mile 2 though the sun was out in full force and baking everyone outside. There was a water stop too but I was unable to get any water unless I wanted to stop and pour it myself. I decided to just keep going. I finished mile 2 in 8:36 but was nervous for the last mile because of the horrible heat but just kept mustering on.

The third mile was definitely a tough one. The sun and heat were really getting to me and I just wanted water. I slowed down some because I felt like I was going to pass out from the heat. I made to the second water stop and drank half of the water and dumped the rest on my legs. It felt so great and was the boost I needed to finish the race. I was still going slower but refused to walk or slow down too much. The race ended right by the water, which I loved. Running by the water is so pretty and I can't help but smile. With about .1 left, a girl came flying out of nowhere and ran right into me causing me to almost face plant into the asphalt. Luckily I saved myself but I was pretty pissed about losing so much momentum. I finished mile 3 in 9:07.

Despite everything, I was very pleased with the race. I got my PR and met most of my race goals. I got a bottle of water, a quarter bagel and a piece of watermelon after the race and started to feel better almost immediately. After the race, Callen and I made the drive back to his house and then took a nap that lasted almost the whole afternoon. It felt great to finally catch up on some sleep and rest after my race. As we were we eating a late lunch after we woke up and knocked my knee cap out of place. I fell on the floor instantly and started screaming in pain. Luckily my knee cap returned and didn't need to be manually put back in place. Even still, my knee is very sore and not really wanting to do much. I was supposed to do Insanity tonight but after hurting my knee that didn't happen. I am going to take it easy tomorrow as well with just some swimming and lifting. I am hoping this won't set me back much and I will back to training soon.