Race Report: Howl at the Moon 5K

Anyone who has read much of my blog knows that I'm not really a 5K kind of girl. I usually only run one or two a year, and I'm always glad to get them behind me. I feel like the 5K is a dead sprint for 3.1 miles, and God didn't bless me with many sprinting skills.

Nonetheless, I've run in the Howl at the Moon 5K the past two years. I also won my age group both times, mostly due to the small ground. Of course, it's still an accomplishment that pleases me, and I like running at night... so it was easy to decide to run again.

I got to the park early and got checked in. It turns out I was the very first person to register, so I was assigned #1!

My little sister decided to run and brought along some of her other friends. As we were waiting around, we noticed the robin from Red Robin and had to take a picture.

It wasn't long before it got dark, so we snapped a group photo before heading to the start line. My friend Matt decided to come out as well... I like how our group photo has all the little short shorts and then Matt's manlier shorts.

We lined up, the gun fired and we were off!

I knew that I wasn't anywhere near in as good of shape as I was last year at this time when I ran this race and got a PR by over a minute. I really wanted to try to PR again this year, but I knew ahead of time that it was unlikely. I've been running, but not enough to really shoot for that. I also knew that my sister does better than me at short distances, so it wasn't long before I had to let her pull ahead of me.

When I got to mile 1, I saw 7:12 on my watch. My philosophy had been to just run as hard as I could, try to hang on and hope for the best. I was definitely feeling it, and the smells of all the fast food places we were running by in town were turning my stomach a bit. I hate smells when I'm running.

We made it to the turnaround, and I walked for a few seconds while I got a few sips of water. Heading back to the park involved a steady incline. Between that and me not being in 5K shape, I slowed down and saw 15:40 at mile 2. Of course, an 8:30 mile isn't half bad.

I kept pushing and managed to pass a couple of people in the last mile or so. The only people who passed me the whole time were men, and I don't mind that as much as when women do, haha.

I kicked it in the best I could.

I ended up finishing around 24:50 (results haven't been posted yet), which is only 10 seconds slower than last year. I was a little annoyed at first because I got really close to a new PR, but I also know I gave it my all. I'll just have to go after it in October when I run the Run for Mercy 5K. It will be flat, and hopefully the weather will be MUCH cooler.

We all enjoyed some refreshments, and my sister won a Road ID gift certificate as a door prize. We both ended up winning 2nd place in our respective age groups. I may not have defended my title, but I was still pretty excited to get an age group award. That so rarely happens for me.

After the festivities, we all went to Sonic for some ice cream. It was the perfect way to end a fun night running a night race!