The Sand in My Snow Boots: HOPE Springs 5K

Good morning readers!

This weekend was full of activities, and topping the list was the HOPE Springs 5K! I was really worried about the weather, but the rain/snow held off and we had a breezy run in 35 degree weather. Something I'm pretty comfortable in, but I know a lot of the other runners were cold.

The race started at the hospital which is only 2 blocks away. I picked up my race packet the night before, and we planned to get there with plenty of time for parking, stretching, and whatnot. Luckily we did, because we managed to lock our keys in the house before we left, so we had to break into the house just to get the car keys! Ridiculous!

We made it with more than enough time to go inside and check out all the raffle giveaways, plus say hi to some people we know. I love small town races because there's no corrals or squeezing in. You just line up behind the start line and when they say go, off you go.

The race started off well, except one guy fell over the time mat. A few people stopped to help him up. I totally would have if I had been closer. I like the start of this race because there's a big downhill right at the beginning. Then you feel like you're flying! But I did have to tell myself to slow down a bit. We're just getting started here!

Last year, I finished this 5K in 27 minutes even. My goal for this year was to get in under that. I was checking my pace the entire way, and felt really fast. A few times I looked down and saw that I was doing about 8:15ish - 8:30 min/mile. I alternated between "can I really keep this pace up?" and "Man, I am rocking this!" With only about a mile left to go, I decided to just hold steady. I had plenty of time to meet my goal.

Remember that hill we got to scream down in the beginning? Yea, well we have to go up that to get to the finish line, too. There was a girl wearing a bright pink shirt that I had been trailing for about half a mile. I knew if I could just keep her in my sites, then I was good.

Me: white vest.

Here I am blasting past her up the hill. I was on fire! I turned the corner and sprinted to the finish line. I was so excited to look down and see my time:

PR baby! What's even better? My official chip time was 25:56!! I am pretty pleased with that, thankyouverymuch. Couldn't have done it without my little cheer squad.