Healthy Diva: Pumpkin Pacer 5K

I ran the Pumpkin Pacer 5K on Saturday. I went into this race with no expectations, but I hoped to run faster than I had ran my 5K last month (recap here). I still have had no speed work since the end of March. Just banking some easy miles and still running 15 miles or less a week. I have never participated in a costume run before so I was excited to dress up. I wanted to wear something that was still "runnable" but cute at the same time. I am not very creative, but a sparkly pirate is cool...right?

My pirate costume (minus the eye patch, earrings & bandanna)

I was able to find an eye patch, but when I put it on it made me dizzy just being able to see out of one eye. Considering I have a track record of running into fences, mailboxes, light posts, etc while out running I figured that it was best that I didn't wear the eye patch.

Sparkled up and ready to run!

I woke up around 6:45 am and immediately started to kick myself in the butt for running my timed mile all out the night before in Farmgirlfit. My legs were also not feeling very light from deadlifts. Not the best way to wake up on race morning!

The race started at 10:00 am and was about 30-45 minutes away from where I lived. I decided to leave a little after 8:30 since I still had to get my race bib and it would allow me time to warm up. I got a nice little warm up in and felt pretty good. Since it was so cold (in the 30 degree range) I opted to not run in my bandanna an instead opted for my NIKE fleece headband to keep my ears warm. I was thankful that the church where the race took place was open because I was able to go inside and go through all of of my stretches.

Not really much to say about the actually race. It was a good course, a bit more challenging than the 5K from last month. There were some "ups" & "downs" along the course, but nothing too awful. They had pumpkins with arrows and balloons marking the course and as mile markers. It was a cute touch.

I started feeling a bit tired with about a 1/2 mile to go, but I had just passed two guys and I was not going to let them beat me. I am not a competitive creature at all! Ended up finishing in 21:58. Still not close to my PR, but it was faster than last month's 5K and I did successfully run without a cramp in my left arch. I am more excited about not getting a cramp than I was about beating my 5K time from last month.

Post race

I was happy to be able to celebrate this race with some good friends who have recently gotten bit by the running bug. They each ran a great race and had fun. It has been excited for me to watch their progress over the last couple of months. I am so proud of them!