Up & Running 5K Race Report

Today was a local race called "Up & Running" which had a 10K and a 5K. It started on the walking bridge over the Rio Grande and had an out and back down along the Bosque Trail along the river as shown by the map below:



Pros:
* It was a great excuse to get out and run on a cold Jan morning.
* They set up some tents on bridge & played music. It was a very festive atmosphere.
* Packets were put together in reusable shopping bags. We'll get a lot of use out of those.
* Race venue was very close to home, maybe 6 miles from my house.

Cons:
* Start time 8:00am on a cold January morning. I much prefer a later start time (9am or 10am) during winter.
* Weren't set up to accept online or mail in registration. They expected people to drive downtown to the BCPR office while it was open (mon-fri 8-5am). I called and asked if I could mail my registration in and they let me do it, but it was an exception. I believe they would have had a bigger turn out if they had an easier way to register.

It was about 22 deg when we left the house. The sun wasn't quite up over the mountains either. Brrrrr!! I was going to take a self-portrait with my cell phone, but my fingers were just too cold.

They started the 10K first and started the 5K runners ten minutes later. The first half mile was mostly downhill. The middle was mostly flat. Then uphill at the end.

The field was small enough that there were only a few people between husband and I after mile one, so I could see him up ahead. I tried to keep him in my sights on the way back, but just couldn't keep up.

No worries, I told myself, I was out there to run my own race anyway.

Near the end of the race, I was passed by a woman and a chihuahua. I didn't mind being passed by the woman, but a chihuahua!?!? That's actually pretty depressing if you think about it.

Here's the graph of my splits, courtesy of Garmin. Official results will be posted by tomorrow afternoon. Garmin says I ran 30:31, average pace of 9:55.

If I could run the whole 5K like mile one, I would be a very happy woman. Guess that's something to work toward this year when I actually start training.

Also, while I'm pleased that I had some energy to kick it up a notch at the end for that final stretch, I can't help but wonder if maybe I could/should kick it up a bit sooner...

All in all, it was fun little event. Something I'll consider doing again next year.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!