F.A.B. 5k- A Heated PR

I woke up at my friend’s house yesterday morning and was greeted in the kitchen with a smile, coffee, and instructions to raid the refrigerator for breakfast:

There was even homemade bread. Clearly it was the winner.

Annie even let me drink out of her “A” cup. Makes me feel like such a special houseguest.

Now would be a good time to mention I stayed out in the ’burbs on Saturday night. Because we had some serious business to get down to early Sunday morning.

The F.A.B (Fight Against Breast cancer) 5k!

Annie got a group of lovely ladies together to run/walk the event in Arlington Heights and I jumped on chance to be involved and also to run again in my old stomping grounds.

Even Mon came along as head cheerleader and official photographer for the group!

This was their 3rd year organizing it, and it was a great event!

The only thing I would have changed? Maybe throw in another water station. There was only one and it was at 1.8 miles. You really can’t fault them for not knowing it was going to be over 80 degrees at the start of the race, but 1.8 still seemed pretty late in the game for a 5k event.

It was a neighborhood run- one of my favorite things about it. Since Arlington Heights doesn’t have a massive amount of runs, all the neighbors get really into it. I high-fived multiple lines of kids and ran through every other sprinkler on the course. FUN.

Fun but still hot (as mentioned earlier). Being a smaller race, there were no clocks along the course, so I had no clue what my pace was on the course. Also, being out of training of any sort, I haven’t paid one bit of attention in the last few months at how fast I’ve been going on a regular basis.

So the last half mile? Killer. With each turn, I hoped to see the finish line. When it was finally in sight, along with the race clock informing me of what was going on, I pushed HARD. 

The original goal was to be under 26 minutes. Make it a fun run. Because again- I had no idea at what I’ve been pacing these days.So 24:05?

More than content.

And to get third out of the females and 14th overall? I’ve had worse races.

Annie and I both did better than planned yesterday. A nice way to start our Sunday!

So 24:05 is my new 5k PR. A PR that happened in 80+ degree weather. My last 5k PR? A super sunny day in June. My 10K PR? Happened in mid-July. My half marathon PR? August (enough said).

It’s been decided. I should really just stop with the cold weather races. I’m a freak that happens to love running in the heat.

Even if I sometimes feel like this afterwards:No worries, I did eventually get up. Annie had a big brunch and pool party planned for the big group of girls who participated.

There is no better way to bribe me to do something than with food and the promise of being poolside.

Take that information and use it how you like.

Have a good week, peeps!

And remember- sunscreen and water. It’s important.