Race Report - Purple Stride 5k

Last Saturday I ran the Purple Stride 5k. Not only has it taken me a week to post a race report on here, but I didn't get any running in this past week either (hanging head in shame). Excuses were abundant in all shapes, sizes, and colors of course; gym day on Monday (gotta cross-train afterall), late day at the office and then dinner with co-workers visiting from all over the country on Tuesday AND Wednesday, dinner with family on Thursday AND Friday, and finally meal planning and placating my OCD by organizing closets on Saturday (it's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it - I'm feeling much better, thanks for asking).

All of the aforementioned reasons excuses are valid, but another week like that and I feel like I'll be starting over at square one! This coming week will be better or my name is not Super Mom/Wife/Daughter/Sister/Friend/Employee/AAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!

Anyway, so I totally crushed my previous 5k time with this race. Let's take a quick trip down memory lane, shall we? Purple Stride 2013 (October 12th) was a PR (personal record) for me on the running front with a time of 43 minutes 2 seconds and an average pace of 13'40". I thought I was really something coming in under 15 minutes per mile with that race.

Fast forward to last Saturday (that's sort of confusing, sorry) and Purple Stride 2014:

• August 23rd, 2014 (yes, this means it was MUCH hotter than the previous race last October - 98 degrees to be exact)
• The course was hillier (don't think that's a word; too bad, I got nothing else)
• Race started at 8:05 in the morning; I was at the very front
• Walked briefly through the water stop at the turnaround (not because I needed to walk, but because they handed out water bottles with twist caps and I wanted to drink more water than I wanted to wear for the rest of the race with a white tank top on)
• Felt like I was crawling on the way back to the finish line (I purposefully turned off the audio voice feedback on Nike lady because I didn't want to know what my pace was until I finished).
• Some dude kept passing me while running and then he would walk so I'd pass him and so it went for the last mile of the race. He passed me at one point and starting walking about 5 feet in front of me, then turned around and said "sorry, I'm doing the whole run/walk thing and I'm like the hare while you are keeping a steady pace" - I assured him that all was well, but thought to myself "did he just call me a tortoise?"
• I thought the race was never going to end, and then I saw the finish line and my peeps. The look on my husbands face scared me a little bit. He knew that I was hoping to come in under 40 minutes and he had this look on his face like "really?" - I took that as "really,, you are so slow and I cannot believe you missed the mark on this race". What his look actually was portraying was "really?" - "I've been watching the race clock and didn't expect to see you for a few more minutes but here you are."
• I looked from my husbands face to the race clock and saw this:  35:04
• I was surprised and IMMEDIATELY mad at myself because had I pushed a little bit harder here or there I could've come in under 35 minutes (dumb I know - but that would've been EPIC).
• My final time was 35:19 with an average pace of 11'24" (finished 16 out of 28 in my division, although they show my age online as 30, so I'm not sure how accurate that little stat is)
• I ran my fastest mile EVER at 11'09" (mile 1 of course - nothing like start line adrenaline)
• Time for this race was over 7-1/2 minutes faster than my previous PR! (I am truly awesome)

Seriuosly though, I could not have asked for a better race. Coming in just over 35 minutes just gives me something to reach for in my next 5k, which will likely be very soon.

I am still in training for the Route 66 half marathon this November (except for this past week - clearly I was in training for NOTHING).

I am super proud to be a part of Purple Stride each year and I know the next one will be even bigger and better. A big thank you to everyone who came out to support this great cause. And congratulations to the 15 year old who "won" and ran the race in under 26 minutes, although I secretly hate your guts!

MIND OVER MATTER