Firefly 5k race recap

Last night I ran the Firefly 5K. It was a different type of race since it started at 8 PM. Yesterday, I was also scheduled for my long run - but I decided to step it back since I knew I would be racing that night. So I ran 5 miles in the morning and felt great. I was a little worried about my knees from my strenuous hike the day before. But the run felt great.

My friend Jen was running the race, so she came over and met me at my house. Our other friend Karyn also came along to cheer us on.

Jen and me before the race. (Aidan popped into the photo too!)

We arrived at the race and had about 30 minutes before it started. We ran into our friend Melissa.

We chatted for a while, and I whined about how night races were not my thing. I was tired. In fact, I was yawning and thinking about how crazy I must have been to sign up for a 5K that started at 8PM! I had no expectations for this race.

Meanwhile Karyn kept reminding me that I would do great since because of all the speed work that we have been doing. I was pretty much guaranteed to PR. Hrmppph. I wasn't so sure.

The horn blew. We were off. It was a small race with only 300 runners. And I really had no idea how the course would be. In fact, I wasn't sure if there were hills or if it was flat. I just ran. And a funny thing happened. I started passing people. And I felt good. I didn't feel overly out of breath or like I was going to die from over-exertion.

I came upon a hill. And I plowed through it. And I passed some more people. Then I came upon a steeper hill. And I ran the whole thing - not even thinking about walking. I passed more people and kept up a good pace.

I passed the half way point and hit a downhill portion of the race. I was flying. Did I mention how good I felt?

I came in to the home stretch and Karyn was close the finish line. She told me to kick it in and sprint. And - so I did. I crossed the finish line in 25:45.

A PR for me! My PR before that was 25:58. I was pretty excited. It always feels good to get a PR!

More importantly, I felt good. And, remember -  I was running tired, and it was a little bit of a hilly race. It wasn't super awful - but it was hilly enough that it was a bit of a challenge.

My stats:
Finish time: 25:45
I was #47 out of 317 runners.
The best part: I was 3rd place in my age group!!!! How exciting is that? I never placed in my age group before. I was elated.

It was a great night! Afterwards, I celebrated with a beer and some chicken wings with Jen and Karyn.

Karyn, Jen, and me - being silly

My next race is a 10 miler on 8/17. It is one of my favorites  - The Clove Run! I like to treat it as a training run for my October half.

On a side note - my July running stats:
74 miles - which was 2 miles more than June.

Have a great night!