5k – French Fry Runner

Frigid 5K Recap

First, I hope you all had a good holiday! The Engineer and I ran the Frigid 5K on Saturday. Overall it was a great race.

The race started at 9:00 a.m., which was awesome. Who doesn’t love sleeping in on race morning? I know I do. Since the race course was on our local river trail, it was quite chilly when we got to the race. Thankfully they had some hot chocolate to help us warm up. Unfortunately, the race was delayed at the start line for 20 minutes. I felt bad because all the speedy people could’ve been done by the time we finally started running (the winner ran it in 17 minutes). Oh, well.

After that hiccup, the race was super gorgeous and fun to run. The river trail is lined with trees, so it was really pretty running through that canopy. I took it slow at first, running and walking (3:30 and 1:00 intervals, respectively) and then sped up for the last mile or so. I’ve been easing myself back into running over the last month, so I was working hard but still felt good. I sprinted the last .1 mile and registered a 5:40 mile for about 5 seconds, so that was fun.

My final time was 31:35, which is a lot better than I thought I would run. My goal was actually 36 minutes, so I was stoked to run it in under 32. I attribute my faster time to all the strength training I’ve been doing. (Go BodyPUMP!) The Engineer came in less than a minute later than me. Go us! And we were both 8th place in our respective age groups. At the finish, they gave us donuts, cider, water, and Larabars. Not too shabby.

Frigid 5K Recap via @FrenchFryRunner Click To Tweet

The race also included a polar plunge (for a separate fee), but we didn’t do that. We had a lot more fun watching people and judging (haha).

All in all, it was a good race, and we had fun. We’d run it again. Hopefully they fix the late start for next year.

Did you run this weekend?

Would you ever do a polar plunge?

Race Plans for 2015

I’m linking up with Patty from My No-Guilt Life, Erika from MCM Mama Runs, and April from Run the Great Wide Somewhere for Tuesdays on the Run. This week’s topic is 2015 Race Plans.

So far, I have my races planned through May and then one in September.

January: Frigid 5k. This is a small local race to get everyone motivated. I’ve never run it, but it’ll be a good experience, I’m sure.

February: Hale Freezes Over 5k or 10k. I’m not sure whether I’ll be running the 5k or the 10k, but I’ve run the race before. It’s put on by the Hale Center Theater, and all participants receive free show tickets in their swag. Pretty sweet, right? There’s delicious food at the start and finish, and it really just feels like a family event. 🙂 I can’t say enough good things about this race. And I’m running it with a lot of the Blister Sisters! We haven’t run a race together in a really long time, so that will be great!

Blister Sisters! — Blister Sisters at Moab’s Winter Sun 10k!

March: Rex Lee Run 5k or 10k. This is an annual local race that’s celebrating its 30th anniversary. This will be my third time running the race. It features a good course, a great price, and a huge raffle at the end. All in all, a great choice for me.

See? We do run together sometimes! Me and the Engineer

April: Pink Series 10k. This is an all-women race in a neighboring town. I’ve never run one of the Pink Series races, but I’m excited about it.

May: My first half marathon of the year! I’m still trying to decide which half to run, but I’m leaning toward a smaller race, the Alpine Half, on May 23–or my town’s local race, the Provo City Half Marathon, which is larger but earlier in the month (May 2).

– – No idea for June through August – – I’ll get back to you on that.

Then, of course, the Dumbo Double Dare the first week of September! Woo! Looking forward to this.

Fast forward to November. I’d really like to run my marathon in November, but I’m waiting on choosing one until I know where we’ll be living at that time.

I'm ready to #race in 2015! What are your race plans? @frenchfryrunner #running #goals Click To Tweet

What race are you most looking forward to this year? Anyone in Utah running any of these races?

See my other races/recaps here.

Nestle 5k Fun Run Recap

It’s actually been awhile since I’ve run a 5k, and, I have to say, I had a blast. AND I pretty much nailed a PR–(29:51) according to my Garmin since I started way in the back and there was only gun time. Haha, if you just go by the gun time, I’m about 45 seconds slower (31:30) than my PR in 2007 (30:46). But I think I’ll count it, eh? Okay, fine. I’ll wait until I have an “official” PR. Technicality.

Anyway, I felt great the whole race. I couldn’t believe how easy it felt to run decently hard (for me). So I guess since it felt pretty easy, that means I could have run faster. Next time, my friends. I didn’t run the first mile too fast, I ran the whole way up this MONSTER hill (passing a ton of people, I might add), and then picked up the pace during the last half of the race. I’ve been working on fast finishes, so I saw a bit of that paying off. I even beat The Engineer. That never happens. Well, he hasn’t been running as much as I have, so the second he puts in as much as me, it’s so long to ever finishing faster. Dang those guys with their ability to get in shape faster . . . Sigh. 🙂 This race was also part of the 5 by 5th Virtual Run Series on mommyrunfast.com (the last month!).

Next up: Freedom Run 10k on the Fourth of July.