Frosty Foot Race 5k Race Report

My track coach always says that if you want to be strong racer, then practice racing by competing in events throughout the year.  Taking his advice, one of my goals for this year was to race every month.  In January I raced the Ice Breaker Indoor Relay with my teammates, but needed something for February.  There aren't a whole lot of races in February in Illinois because we typically have a "real winter" (aka it snows and is cold).  When Kim posted that she was doing a 5k by her, I thought it would be perfect for me to do to help meet my goal of racing each month.

I think it is hard sometimes when someone else wants to run the same race you are running.  Everyone has goals, and sometimes those goals can make things awkward.  This rarely happens, probably because my friends know my pace for various races and what my goals are.  I've run in the same races as teammates before and it can be super great when both people run well or not so much fun when one or both people don't hit their goal or run well.

In a way, I felt guilty for singing up for the race, knowing that Kim likes to place in this race, preferably 1st in her age group, and we are the same age.  In the spirit of stating the facts, most days I am faster than Kim, although I'm sure she'd kick my butt at various other athletic activities.  The night before the race I had a dream that Kim beat me at the race, right at the finish line.  The details as to what my time was during that race are a bit blurry, but I remember feeling incredibly happy for her that she out-kicked me.

Before the race on Sunday actually started, I'll admit that I was a bit nervous that she would beat me.  My runs in February haven't been too stellar and I feel like I'm in a bit of a training rut.  I know that running well for me is 90% mental and having the confidence that I can do well.  Sunday morning I woke up and my confidence was nowhere to be found.  I think I left it with the warm weather back in the fall.

The race itself was small and run on a course with rolling hills throughout.  I didn't taper for this race and ran 8 miles of hills at a pace that was faster than I should've the day before.  Shockingly, the sun was out for once and the weather was in the upper 30s, which was something to rejoice about.

There aren't too many details to share about the race.  I could've won a gold medal for the biggest positive split.  I ran:

Time: 21:28 (*not chipped time)

Pace: 6:55/mile

Overall: 19/237

Age Group: 1/12

Female: 2nd overall out of ???

I feel like I have a lot to do to work on my fitness, and more importantly, my confidence.  It is always good to have a starting spot, so I am hoping this really improve from here on out.

Thanks to Kim for helping me meet my goal, and for having a HUGE PR.  It was so neat to see her finish.