Pumpkins in the Park 5k

21:30 (avg 6:56/mile) A new PR by 45 seconds!!! And I finally averaged less than 7 minutes a mile for a race! AND I'm now able to run faster than I did in High School, only took me 15 years...

1st in my Age Group! out of 239 YAY!!!!!

14th woman of 1128 1.2%

80th Overall of 1825 4.3%
Since the race was at 4pm, CB took me for a walk in Grant Park in the morning.

Then we ate all the Honey Nut Cheerios and drank Brasilian coffee and rested.
I was happy this was an afternoon race since i'm a rust bucket in the mornings, but then the waiting started to get to me. I started looking at Turkey Trots, and thinking how excited I was to race a 5K again and feel that good lung burning sensation. Until I ran this race and was all FU&K this is HARD! Why do I put myself through this torture? When's the next half marathon? ha!
The shirt for the race was really cool. It is a black long sleeve shirt with the nice logo on it.
So my plan, was to not puke up the cheerios and gummy bears I ate earlier. Other than that, just run. If I could survive the last 10 miles of Fox Valley marathon feeling as shitty as I did, 3.1 miles would be "easy." *5k's are never easy if you are "racing" them. 

Splits: 6:47, 7:03, 7:01, 6:12 (final .1)

So I might have taken off a tad too fast? eh my splits were fairly consistent though and I had a lot of kick at the end (especially when I saw a girl com up behind me the last .1 and I went into overdrive to make sure she didn't pass me. She didn't.)

The course was interesting and a little challenging in Lincoln Park- some hard turns and hills spiced things up a bit. (and might have caused my ankle to hurt the last mile...)
For winning my AG I got a cupcake and a gift certificate for Fleet Feet- which I cannot wait to use to buy some more cold weather running gear! They also had 3 varieties of Goose Island at the finish. I celebrated my PR with a Harvest Ale.
Fleet Feet puts on stellar events. Everything about the race was top notch- packet pickup was a breeze, the course was well marked, the volunteers were plentiful, the post race party was amazing. Do yourself a favor and register for Rudolph Ramble 8K or Soldier Field 10, you won't be disappointed.

Joe and I post race, was bummed to miss photos with Liz, Shauna, Chris, Brooke, Autumn...

Because of Fleet Feet Fun Runs (and my blog) I've met a ton of really cool people in Chicago. When I go to a race now, I am never alone. It is always so fun to roll up to a race and randomly run into friends made through running. This community is so strong and supportive, I really never thought I'd experience something like that since I'm a bit of a loner. But I have to say it is really nice to see friends and chat post race about our experiences and what's coming up. That usually gets my juices flowing for the next race. 
Running Changes Everything.
YES OF COURSE REPLACE IT! But i have a feeling this record won't be lasting too long.... :)

Next up: Naperville Marathon.

Then: a trifecta of Turkey Trots, perhaps. GOBBLES


--xaar