2 5K's

This was a weekend of 2 races for me. I decided to run the Phoenix YMCA 5K because I ran their half marathon last fall and decided the course was way too boring (and kinda hot by the end) to run it again, but I wanted to support the organization anyway, so I opted for the shorter race this year. The race had a 7:30am start time on Saturday morning, so Keeper and I arrived bright and early. I had been gearing my training towards this race the past 2 months and I was feeling pretty good so I thought I had a chance at a PR. No such luck. I did not warm up enough and did not anticipate the hilly course (it was located at South Mountain Park, which is in fact, a mountain). There weren't many people running the 5k and among those who did, there were a lot of dogs, strollers and little kids. Although it was nice and cool early in the morning and the views on the mountain were nice, I was disappointed in the organization of the 5k. It was an out and back course that did not designate which side of the road was "out" and which side was "back". Looping back brought much dodging and weaving among walkers and cars (which were allowed to drive on the course). Upon finishing, I was told by race volunteers that was no water, 0nly Gatorade. WTF?!?! No water at a race? The shirts, however, were very cool and Keeper and I headed to our favorite breakfast spot for a post-race pig-out.

This morning was another 5k. It was our first AZSR run and was at Kiwanis Park in Tempe. It was interesting to see our whole group of mentors and students together because during the week we train separately (high school and middle school are split). Because none of the middle school kids were my pace and I didn't know any of the high school kids (I coach the middle school group), I was told to just run my own race and see what happened. So I did. It was a much flatter course that looped around a lake and I just felt more relaxed (and warmed up) than yesterday. I ended up with a PR of 23:33 ( I had never broken 24:00 before!) and first place in my age group! The kids did great as well. We liked the race organization and atmosphere and I would definitely do this one again next year. Next up: a 10K with AZSR in two weeks!!!