Birthday 5K Recap
| August 11, 2012 | Posted by Carrie under 5K, birthdays, Running |
I ran the Hills are Alive 5K this morning for the 3rd consecutive year. It’s a race entirely on horse trails, not terrain on which I typically run. Add in to that a yummy birthday dinner with wine and dessert last night and the 80* race time temperature and I think this one might need to be called the I’m Glad I’m Alive Birthday 5K Recap.
Pre race – like how I matched my race bib to my shirt to my KTTape on my knee?
Ok, so it wasn’t that bad. I felt fine warming up, but that was about it. I didn’t feel awful during the race, it was just hard. I knew early on that I wasn’t going to beat my time from last year, so I decided to conquer hills instead. There is a long hill at the end that I specifically remember walking last year. So, I decided I’d beat it this year. It took every ounce of my mental power to make it to the top this year, but I did it. I walked for about a minute when I finished the hill and then ran the rest of the way to the finish.
Why are hills never as big as they felt when I look at my Garmin detail?
Love the elevation climb for the first portion?
I’m not sure how my distance shows 2.94 miles. There are two tunnels that we ran through, each twice, so maybe my Garmin skipped at those points? It’s not like I was cutting corners on the narrow horse trails. Finish time 35:14.
I’ve never had stomach cramping at the end of a race before, so when that happened, I was a little freaked out. Especially since I went to the race alone. But, it went away within a few minutes and I was able to pick up a 1/2 banana and some water.
Love a race with a fro-yo sponsor!
I headed home to clean up from the dirty and dusty trail.
Then I was able to indulge in my birthday pancakes made by my kids. I always spell their ages in chocolate chips in their birthday pancakes, so Dancing Girl did the same for me. FYI – birthday pancakes were the ‘day-after-birthday-pancakes’ this year because yesterday was a crazy morning and today it just seemed to go good after my race 
I was thinking during the race how happy I am to be able to challenge myself physically. I was grateful for my legs and lungs and mental ability to get through today. The best birthday gift to myself.
I remember wanting to go to the gym a few years ago on my birthday and a friend commented that I should take the day off because it was my birthday. I think the opposite. We need to celebrate the passage of time with movement – appreciate what we can do. Our bodies need movement, birthdays are meant to celebrate ourselves.
I’m still plugging along with The Fitness Cheerleader’s August Blogger Challenge. While I’m not following all the prompts, I do love her topics and am going to try to catch up tomorrow.
Have a great Saturday everyone! Who else raced today? Anyone else celebrate their birthdays with a race or a good workout?
Yay! Birthday pancakes are the best! Happy birthday to you
And way to kill the hill 
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Thank you! I seriously think about you when I’m tackling a hill. My hills don’t hold a candle to some of the hills you conquer. Thank you for the motivation!
I love your 41 birthday pancake! I am glad you had a good run and a great day!
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Thank you! It was a yummy pancake.
Happy birthday Carrie! I just posted my birthday 5K recap with a hill too. Nice finish!
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