NM Sweetheart Run 5K Race Report

Husband & I signed up once again for the NM Sweetheart Run, and chose the 5K distance.  This event typically falls near our birthdays.  This year it was on his birthday, in fact.  What a great way to celebrate another year.  My regular running partner also signed up.

Husband's Age Medal & Event Shirt

The design on the event shirt is pretty cute this year.  But because it is a cotton t-shirt, it will probably sit around in my closet until I'm ready to send another batch of shirts in for a quilt.  Sometimes I really wish they gave the option to forego the shirt.  But I digress.

The weather this morning was chilly, 24deg with enough wind that the feels like temp was 14.  Brrrr.  It wasn't too bad with the wind at our back, but running north into the cold wind was brutal.

Elevation Profile

This is also not what I would describe as a flat course, although not too horrible. The difference from the lowest to the highest point is only 60 ft, not exactly the mountain that it looks like in the graph.  But still...definitely not flat.  And I've been training on flat because my knee doesn't like hills.

Anyway, I ran the race along with my run partner.  We knew we weren't "race ready" and did okay, not great.  My finish time was 29:51, hers was a few seconds faster because she had a stronger kick at the end.  It's roughly a ~9:45 avg pace. [update - a few more stats now that official results are posted: 8 of 17 W40-49, 93 of 205 overall].  Overall, it was about what I'd expect on any given weekend when I've been running casually vs. training to race. 
Husband, on the other hand, had a great race.  He's been hill training all winter and it seems to have paid off.  He ended up 2nd in his age group!  Nice, huh?! That's his age group medal in the first photo.  :-)

The next race on my horizon is the 10K at the Albuquerque Half Marathon.  After today, my running partner & I decided that we need to start going a bit longer for our long runs and get back up to our regular 7 milers.  We also need to incorporate some hills even if I just walk them.  Also some pavement - not too much, but enough to ready to race on it rather than dirt.