Running a 5K

Today I ran my first 5K in St. Peter, Minnesota. It was an early morning so that we could make the 35 minute journey from our home to my parent’s farm and then to St. Peter for the start of the race (which started at 7:30am). Sadly, I thought that going to bed early the night before was a good idea but it just ended up meaning I woke up at 4:00am and couldn’t get back to sleep.

Needless to say, I was awake.

I have been running the 5K distance for over two weeks now and was fairly confident I would be able to do alright. I was not prepared for how difficult it would be to add hills to the mix.

I should have listened to my wife. She warned me (or tried to).

5K and four hills later, I was nearing the finish line and saw my son, with his grandpa, waiting at my last turn. That’s when I got a sudden burst of speed and powered on through to the finish. I put on the last little bit when I saw my wife waiting at the finish line, all of 3 weeks and 3 days before her due date. Thanks for sticking it out, it means a lot that you did.

My goal at the start of the day was to finish the race in under 30 minutes. I came in at 29:13. Mission accomplished.

Without the hills I probably would have gotten done around 28:30, but that is for a later date. I was mildly pleased to come in within the first third of the pack for the 5K and now I have a baseline to work from for the future.

So there it is, my first 5K after completing Couch to 5K twice in just over a year. Hopefully this is the start of a life-long willingness to keep running and keep healthy. In less than two weeks I have another 5K, this one is a little closer … a 3 minute walk from my front door.

Let’s see if I can get closer to 29 minute this time.