Run With the Police 5K recap

I have yet to feel prepared for one of my races this year.  But I also have yet to be disappointed with my finish.  Maybe because my only goal is to finish each race.  Sure, I'd like to see my pace get faster and feel good the entire run, but ... that takes some prep work I haven't yet put in.  So I still consider each race a victory because I sign up and I show up.  That has to count for something.

I've been looking forward to this race since the day I signed up.  I liked the cause (proceeds went to the Special Olympics), and I was really excited about the theme.

With all the headlines about police lately, I was glad to be a part of a community event that rallies around the police.  My "brother"-in-law (husband of a friend who is like a sister to me) is a police officer, so I have a sense of the dedication and hours he puts into his work.  He is a good cop and a good person.  And there are a lot more like him than unlike him, in my estimation.  It's important to remember that amidst all the current media frenzy and turmoil.

Saturday mornings in Downtown Des Moines are crazy.  The Farmer's Market is a huge draw, which means parking is at a premium.  I took this into account as I headed to the race start, which was just east of where the Farmer's Market was happening.  Fortunately, I found a spot a few blocks away and was able to walk to the police station (where the race was starting) in about five minutes.

When they were organizing the race, the police had been told to expect, at best, 250 participants for their first year. More than 1,000 showed up.  Law enforcement professionals wore blue shirts, and civilians wore orange.  Naturally, there were a few people in non-race shirts.  And there were even a few in full-on jailbird costumes --- black and white stripes, carrying bags of "money."  It was a festive and fun atmosphere.

It was also very humid.  When the race started, I jogged out at a good pace for the first three-quarters of a mile.  But then it got harder to breathe and I slowed down considerably.  There were a few times, I thought about stopping to walk, but I didn't want to.  I knew I would have a hard time running again if I did that.  So I powered through.  I was dripping by the time I crossed the finish line, where a police officer and Special Olympic athlete put my medal on me.

All things considered, I enjoyed the race, and I'm definitely going to keep it on my radar for next year.

My finish time benchmarks:

Good - 36:00 or above

Great - 34:01-35:59

Awesome - 34:00 or faster

My Garmin-official time was 35:08!

I started out really strong, but the humidity wore me down in a hurry. It probably didn't help much that I slacked off on my workouts in the two weeks prior to the race.  All this considered, I'm happy with my time ... and determined to be more prepared for the next race.  I feel like I'm on the verge of hitting that "AWESOME" mark.

As a music lover, my running playlists are very thoughtfully made, so after each race, I share the song or songs that really got me moving.  

Here was my power song for the day:

 +++++

Last week's workouts

Friday: Off
Saturday: Run With the Police 5K

Sunday: Off

Monday: 1.5 miles on the trail + core work
Tuesday: 2 miles on the treadmill
Wednesday: Off

Thursday: Yoga at home

Last week, I asked for help getting motivated and Kristin suggested I share my workout schedule for the week ahead as well. Holly does this, so maybe it'll work for me.

Last week's workouts

Friday: Off.
Saturday:  Trail run or bike ride

Sunday: BodyPump + 1 mile on the treadmill

Monday: Trail run or bike ride if the weather cooperates or the gym if the weather doesn't cooperate

Tuesday: FitFusion
Wednesday: Off

Thursday: Barre