I finished out the month of January with the Lady Track Shack 5K in Mead Gardens. This was the weekend following the Celebration Half Marathon so it was a great recovery race. My running partner Kayla was out of town, so I was planning to run the race by myself. I definitely had a goal to get a PR (personal record) and in the back of my mind, I really wanted to get a sub-30 minute 5K.

I rode down with some ladies from the running group. The sun wasn’t up yet when we arrived and it was COLD. I had on a short sleeve shirt, a long sleeve shirt, pants, my tutu, and an ear warmer and I was still freezing. Once the race started, I warmed up a little, but I definitely was never hot. It had been a long time since I ran a 5K race, so I started off steady with hopes of increasing each mile.

My splits were as follows:

Mile 1 – 10:25
Mile 2 – 9:48.0
Mile 3 – 8:44.8
Mile 4 – 0:44.4

Total time: 29:42 for 3.1 miles Average pace: 9:35

I am honestly shocked that I ran an 8:44 mile in my third mile. Towards the end, I was keeping an eye on my watch and trying to figure out my projected final time, I knew I could definitely get it under 30 minutes so I was pushing myself hard. I really want to work on increasing my pace this year and this race gave me a boost of encouragement. I really had no idea what to expect going into this race. My last official 5K race was in May 2014 and my time was 33:43. Not only did I improve my time, but I felt so much better after this race.

It was good to see some friends after the race too!

The race itself was awesome! Track Shack did such a great job. For $35, we got a Raw Threads shirt (two weekends in a row!!), a tutu, and a really nice medal. Not to mention the great sponsors handing out goodies after the race. The race was all women and by running we helped fund mammograms in Central Florida. This race will definitely be on my calendar next year!