I ran my first race of the year yesterday – the Empower Run 5K for A Safe Place, a local crisis center that provides housing, court advocacy, referrals, and counseling programs for victims of domestic violence and human trafficking.  I found out about the 5K through my gym, WWM. WWM was a sponsor and a bunch of the gym members were participating.

The race was at Independence Grove, our county’s showpiece forest preserve, with a huge man made lake, several miles of paved and crushed dirt trails (with access to longer trails), and several different venues. I’m two weeks out from my marathon so I made the 5K part of my long run. I had originally planned to run there from the house and get another 20 miler in, but I didn’t get enough sleep to do that (nor did I really want to anymore) so I drove there when it opened and ran 10 miles before the race started.

My 10 felt good! I was worried about running so much on pavement (I usually run on crushed stone), but my body did great, except for my left foot “catching” every now and then (for real, I need to watch that so I don’t trip during the marathon).

I watched them set up the race while I ran loops (several people commented after on how they saw me “warming up” and how impressive that was. Aww, thanks.). I stopped to get my packet in the middle of my 10 miler, then I kept on running.

I finished my 10 and got back to my car and changed my shorts and top, put on more sunscreen, and ran right into the group while they were taking the group photo. Good timing!

I hung out with WWM friends and then the race started around 9:00. I noticed right away that we went the wrong way on the course and wondered if our mileage would be off – we were supposed to leave the start and run the paved trail but we took the crushed stone trail. We completely missed the WWM sponsored water stop that was set up at the mile 1 marker (I had passed it several times during my 10 mile run). I really didn’t care if the course was short, just felt bad we were going to miss the WWM sponsored water stop!

I started with friends but was almost immediately by myself. I started toward the middle of the pack and passed a lot of folks in the first mile.

It was a gorgeous day! Low 60s, low wind, 80% humidity. Would have been too warm for a longer race, or a fast 5K. 

My breathing was even and the effort felt easy. My first mile was 10:33.

I was happy to get off the crushed stone and back on paved trail. I carried my own water bottle and kept taking swigs of it. This park has almost no shade and the sun was intense! My second mile was 10:00.

I was running around kids and it always cracks me up how they sprint then walk. One kid took water at the mile 2 stop and tried to run with it, and I told him “It’s okay to walk and drink your water!” and he actually listened to me.

I felt really good at the end and saw one of my WWM friends ahead of me and ran up to her to encourage her. She stuck with me for a bit then I went ahead and finished the last mile in 8:48, passing another woman right before I finished. I thought I might have a chance in my age group (since most of the people seemed to be walking) but the age groups were 15 years, not 5 years, and I was 6th in 31-44 age group.

My final time was 29:43 for a 2.99 m course. I felt great when I finished, and proud of my effort. Being able to run a fast 5K (my average pace for my 10 miler was 11:35) after a long run felt encouraging for the marathon.

I got my medal, hung out with WWM folks and cheered everyone on, then got some snacks and left.

I just love this community I’ve found at WWM. It’s such a wonderful, supportive group.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention! Lorena (my friend and nail tech) was there and walked it with her daughter! I just love this pic she got of the three of us. Lorena joined WWM in the winter and has been consistently going since! I am so proud of her.

After the race I got groceries, and just left my bib and medal on. I had some fun convos about that at Aldi.