Week 6 was rough, but I did it!

I woke up on Monday morning and my back was killing me. I spent the most of the day at work unable to move around much and then immediately made my way to my couch and heating pad when I got home. It took a couple of days to clear up and because of that my training got delayed a bit.

For my first workout of the week I decided to hit up Running for Brews with my friends. My friend Melissa takes her dog for a long walk and I joined her for the miles. It was a great way to test out how my back was feeling and visit with her. I had a 5k race coming up and knew that I needed to be smart about things. Thankfully my back held out and I had a nice time with my friends.

My second workout was my usual early morning jaunt around my neighborhood. It was ridiculously hot that morning and it was really slowing me down. But I finished my run and wasn’t feeling too terrible afterwards.

I woke up on Saturday feeling both excited and nervous about the 5k I had planned. It was my first 5k, or race for that matter, of the season and there was a lot riding on it. I wasn’t gunning for a PR or anything like that, but I really needed it to go well since I’ve got a 10k coming up next week. I needed this race to remind me that I CAN do this.

As I pulled in to park for the race it started pouring rain. SERIOUSLY?! Thankfully it only lasted a few minutes, but it rained enough to actually make it MORE humid and sticky outside. Thanks mother nature. Due to waiting out the rain and having to walk a little bit to the race I got there just in time to get into the corral. A few minutes later we were listening to the National Anthem and getting ready to go. My goal for the race was simple – stick to my intervals for the whole race and finish. I did both!

The first mile was a little rough with all the people and not really being able to get around people. I ran for a few minutes straight just to get out of the crowds before starting my intervals. It was a good plan but I was still going a bit slower than I had hoped. By the end of mile 1 I was finally feeling like I had hit my stride but the heat was killing me. All was well and good until about 2.5 miles in when my body had just had enough of the heat. That last 0.6 miles was ROUGH!

Is it wrong to tell you that what got me through that last 0.6 miles was the promise of ice cold beer? Well it was. Nothing else sounded good at that moment and it got me moving across the finish line. I made it! My goals were to stick to my intervals the whole race and to finish – I did both.

After the race I was able to meet up with my friend Kelly who I hadn’t seen in way too long and we enjoyed those ice cold beers with some other runner friends. It was worth some extra time in the heat to catch up with her and visit.

So how do I feel about everything and my upcoming 10k? A little nervous actually. The 5k was a little harder than I had hoped. Yes I was coming off my back being a pain (har har) and it was a million degrees, but it was still hard. I’m SO lucky that I will have my sole sister Jenn by my side next week to help keep me going. And I’m sure the promise of grilled cheese sandwiches after the race will help keep HER motivated!