As some of you may have seen on Facebook yesterday, Michael and I ran our first 5k since this one back in November. I’m not sure why I waited so long to race again. Yesterday was such a great reminder of how much I love racing, the community and the whole environment that comes with a race. The Corrib Classic 5k Race was no exception.

I teach on Saturday mornings so I was excited to find a race took place on a Sunday. It was held in West Roxbury, which we had yet to explore. It was nice to check out a new neighborhood while running. The race started at noon. Sort of a weird start time and especially unfortunate considering the recent heat wave we’ve had. Despite the noon start we still only made it to the start line with 5 minutes to spare. It took about 10 seconds of standing around to start sweating. It was so HOT!

It wasn’t a big race, about 2,500 runners, lots of families and strollers. There was a nice moment of silence to Remember the Boston Marathon and then we were off. The race wound its way through the neighborhood streets of West Roxbury. I didn’t bring my camera along but the race was set up really well for the heat. All along the path, neighbors cheered us on, some with sprinklers and hoses set up to douse us with much-needed water. There were also a ton of water stations along the way. I don’t usually stop for water during a 5k but it was a necessity yesterday.

As some of you might remember my goal is to run a sub 24 minute 5k, I ran a 24:49 at our Turkey Trot at 6500′ so I thought it was do-able. I’ve been doing a little bit of speed work on my runs of late and trying to pick up my pace just a little. Unfortunately I forgot my running watch so I was a little in the dark about my pace.

I started out a little fast, for me. At the first mile marker there was someone calling out the times and mine was 7:44. I was definitely feeling it and was a little concerned about whether I could sustain that pace for the rest of the race.

Miles 2 and 3 had some uphills and even though I never again heard a split, I know my second two miles were slower. I don’t usually go out fast and it ended up biting me in the end.

The last quarter of a mile was a straight shot downhill. I kicked it as hard as I could but think that if I had paced myself better I could have taken more advantage of it.

The official times aren’t up yet but when I crossed the finish line I saw 24:45. I might be able to subtract a few seconds from the start but we were pretty close to the front so it won’t be much. Still off my goal and not much different from my last 5k, which is disappointing.

Michael was definitely feeling the heat as well but finished strongly. I’ll post the official results when we get them.

After the race we milled around at Billings Field for a bit.

My only critique of the race was the lack of water at the finish line. They did such a good job during the race but at the end all I could get my hands on were little Dixie cups of water. Not enough for a day like yesterday.

All in all, I’m happy with the race. Michael and I made a vow to start running a 5k together once every 2 months. But, next up for me is the Back in the Day 10k at the end of the month. It’s 80′s themed!

Oh, and after the race we had our first JP Licks experience. I had the lemon sorbet. I wish I could say it was better than last week’s but it didn’t even come close. I’ll have to go back for the ice cream next time.

Hoping on a flight to SF tonight. We’re checking out wedding venues up in the Lake Tahoe area. So excited. Hoping to have a date and a place nailed down by the end of the week.

Until next time…

Enjoy and Exhale!