It is amazing how my running abilities change with different days, times, and situations.
Yes, this might be a bit of an obvious realization, but it really just hit me after my Blend 5K run yesterday. After running 5 miles last weekend with a surprising amount of ease I didn’t really think 3 would be a big deal. I sure was wrong about that!
I planned to run my 5K yesterday (Saturday May 5) for a couple of reasons. Friends were having a Cinco de Mayo party that night so I didn’t want even the possibility of having to run a bit hungover the next day. Also, the weather predicted for Sunday (today) was rain and storms and there was no way that I was going to run in that. (and the weatherman was right because it is storming like crazy as I type this!)
So, early afternoon on Saturday I headed out for my 3.1 miles. The weather was a bit chilly at about 55 degrees, but not so bad once I got going. I ran a pretty normal out and back loop around my neighborhood.
This 3 miles was not my best run this year in any way. It started out well enough, but with about a mile down, the humidity crept up on me. I started feeling hot and slow. I started to think about the 5 miles that I had run the week before. Those wet, cold, and gross 5 miles seemed SO easy compared to this!
I kept going.
I saw tweets from friends on my phone, other runners around me, and remembered what I had done the weekend before. I CAN do this! I have to get home somehow, I might as well keep moving my feet to get there!
I definitely struggled to the end. Walk/Run intervals were my friend. As long as my feet kept moving, I knew I’d get there. At this point, it didn’t matter what my time was, I just wanted to make it home and get out of the sweaty humidity. I ended up finishing in 37:04 – which I know is NOT a bad time at all, it just felt so much worse since I felt so speedy the weekend before!
Things I learned on this run:
– I would 100% rather run in cooler weather rather than warm weather. Standing outside when it is 40 degrees might be miserable, but it turns out that running in it is much better. Running in warm, sunny, and humid, weather is definitely not my cup of tea.
– Running an actual race is so much different than running on your own. Even though there wasn’t a ton of crowd support when I ran Crazylegs, there was enough to make a difference in my motivation. Seeing everyone around you running, people cheering, and wanting to cross that finish line, really makes you forget about how hard you are running.
– I cannot pace myself very well. Although I might run 1 mile at a great speedy pace, I burn out fast. I need to figure out how to fix that.
I’m glad I ran this – especially after how great I felt after my race last weekend. It definitely made me realize that not every run will be that great, and pushing myself in warmer weather is definitely harder. We’ll see what my 5K on June 2nd brings!
Did you do a Blend 5K run this weekend? How did it go?!
Feel free to leave comments here with your thoughts, or a link to your post!
Filed under: Race Recap, Words Tagged: | Blend 5K, running
LOVE your blend 5k recap 🙂 i had a similar experience this morning, as well. Can’t wait until we get to race TOGETHER on the same route one day!
You did it!
Also, I totally agree with your preference for running on cool days versus warm ones. I’m going to have to find some new motivators to keep me running this summer!