I’m sorry that I’ve been MIA for a couple weeks.
First, I just have to tell you . . . I got NEW SHOES–the Saucony ProGrid Mirage from runningwarehouse.com, which, by the way is an awesome site to get running gear. My shoes were $25 cheaper (with a coupon code) there than at my local running store/Sports Authority/Dick’s Sporting Goods. They shipped quickly and were packaged well. AND they’re turquoise and bright green! Yes, I got the color I wanted. I’ve already been complimented on them, so I deem them a success. Also, they’re really comfortable, light, and just make me feel fast.
I wore the shoes to the American Fork Canyon 5k, which was a great race. The morning was nice and cool–perfect for running. It was the race’s first year, and it
was super well organized and had awesome shirts (I want like 10 more.). Since I ran the 5k, I don’t know about the half marathon course, but I heard that it was fast and mostly downhill and fantastic.
There was a monster hill in the middle of the 5k, but it was doable. After the hill, it was downhill to flat. I thought I ran a pretty good race and got 16th place in my age group with a time of 33:20. Woo hoo! There were only 35 people in the group (the 5k was pretty small), but it’s good that I was in the top half! 🙂 Here’s a picture of me being really excited at the finish.
All in all, I loved the race. I wasn’t gasping for air at the end, which makes it a success. My goal for next year is to run the half. I’m already excited about it! 🙂
The Freedom Run 5k on the 4th was a bit different. First of all, the weather decided to be hot and muggy, which is weird for Utah. Not the hot, just the muggy. It was almost 80 degrees when the race started. There were also 5,000 runners. At the AF 5k, there were a lot fewer than that! I think I like the smaller races. As I run more, I’ll let you know.
Anyway, the mugginess meant that I was drenched in sweat by the first half-mile. I’m a heavy sweater anyway, but this was ridiculous! I really felt like I was swimming throughout the race. The course itself was pretty good–mostly flat with a gradual incline starting at the last mile, then downhill starting with .2 mi. to go, and flat for the last .1 mi. My legs felt great the whole race, and I even sprinted to the finish! I passed an old man at the finish. Yeah, I felt good about that. I wanted to run faster than I did at AF Canyon, and I did by like 21 seconds for a time of 32:58.96. I hope I continue to improve. It’s nice seeing progress. The goodies at the end were really good, bread, Powerade, grapes, oranges, chips. We also got a medal and a water bottle.
Pretty sweet.
I liked the shirts too–very patriotic. I’ll probably run it again next year–for the medal of course. 🙂 Where else do you get a medal for a 5k?
