Race for the Cure 5k

A few months back my friend, Bryn asked if I run in the Race for the Cure 5k with her.  I was thrilled!  I’ve always wanted to run with someone!  Having the race set out months ahead of me was a great motivator to keep trucking along and doing the best I could each week to keep running.

I got off work last night and hopped in the car for Bryn’s.  It was a short night of sleep before the alarm went of at 5.  We were taking the light rail to downtown and needed to be there for the 7 a.m. start.  7 a.m. is crazy early for a race.  Most 5ks that I have run have started at 8:30.

We filed out onto the bridge for the start.  The crowd for the run portion wasn’t too thick and we were able to cross the start line within a few minutes.  The first quarter mile was a bit congested but it started to thin out once the fast runners disappeared down the course and the walkers migrated to the back of the pack.

I thought I was going to die about mile 1.  I had the worst cramp below my left lung.  I kept at and started breathing deeply and by mile 2 it had gone away and I was starting to hit my sweet spot, where I’m breathing normal and my legs feel fresh!  We had a great view of the sun coming up over the city as we turned towards downtown.

Before we hit the final stretch we had to go down an off ramp and up an on ramp.  Those on ramps are steeper than they look!!!  The 3 mile mark was at the top and we were almost done!!  There were lots of people lining the streets at the finish!  The stop watch official time was 38:39.  That’s not bad considering we started off slow in the crowd and took two very short walk breaks.

We were very proud of ourselves!!!  And it was a lot of fun.  The weather was great and we got lots of awesome goodies once we crossed the finish line!!  Saving 2nd base is a great reason to wake up early!!

Thanks, Bryn!!! It was a blast!