In this blog post I will be recapping my first 5k on August 26th, 2023. I start by explaining how I was feeling race week, race morning, and then explain how each mile went for me in the race. The focus of this 5k was actually more like a dress rehearsal for the 5k I have in November. If you read “My First Race” post from a few weeks ago you know how rough that went for me. So I used this race more as a practice race to prepare for the main race of my build up in November. I hope any of this recap can either help or inspire you with any races or athletic goals you have in the future!
Race week:
Race week was a roller coaster. For the first half I felt good. My body felt really good and my runs felt great. My legs were feeling really fresh. My mindset was pretty good until Wednesday and Thursday. That’s when the nerves started to settle in my body. I was getting nervous for a variety of things: how I was going to feel during the race, if I would be able to maintain an 8’00 pace for 3 miles, was I going to build up the whole experience like I did my first race. I was just nervous for so many reasons. I got so overwhelmed that I had a minor anxiety attack Thursday afternoon. It came out of nowhere. That’s when I decided on Friday I was going to create boundaries for my mental health by not going on instagram all day and to prioritize time with God by listening to worship music, reading the Bible, and praying to Him through journaling. Starting Friday morning I was still feeling a little anxious but half way through my morning I had the thought of changing my perspective of my race. I thought to myself, “If you didn’t have this race you would be running at the same exact time in Central Park and would be so excited. So try viewing the race as just a normal workout.” And that mindset shift was a game changer for me. I decided that I was going to do my best and just focus on hitting the paces that my coach set at each mile just like in my training sessions. By Friday night I was feeling super good. I definitely learned what works for me to relax my mind, body, and soul to be ready to perform my best. I’m grateful for the Holy Spirit for leading me to tune the rest of the world out and focus on Jesus. Because I know that only Jesus can get my heart in the right place and by focusing on Him, He will provide me the peace and strength I need.
Race morning:
Thankfully the night before the race I slept better than the previous night. I woke up excited!! I knew that I did all I could physically and mentally and it was in God’s hands on how the day panned out. Right away I put worship music on because my main theme for the morning was to live and run with gratitude and I know worship music will put my heart in the right heart posture and my mind on the things above.
I followed by getting dressed, doing my hair, and a few warm up exercises before we called our Uber. 5 min before the Uber came I checked my weather app. It read 90% chance of rain from 6-9 am. I thought of course! But obviously there was nothing I could do about it so I wasn’t going to let it ruin my attitude. I grabbed my rain jacket so I had that to warm up in and reminded myself that I’ve trained in the rain before and it’s no big deal. If anything the rain could work in my favor because it could cool me down.
We got in the Uber and had a great ride down to prospect park. We saw a pretty sunrise before the rain showers and observed the beautiful views of Manhattan and Brooklyn as we made our way to the course. Once we got out of the Uber, I of course had to have my favorite pre run snack, graham crackers!! I ate my 3 sleeves on the way to the course in prospect park. Once we found the start line I started warming up with pre run drills and a short easy 8 min run followed with a few strides. I learned from my last race that I need to run easy before the race so I start warm! It was now 6:50 and I made my way to my corral. I gave Jason my rain jacket and got into the 8’00 min section. For 10 min I waited for the gun to go off. I reminded myself of the race paces my coach and I set: 8’05, 8’00, and 7’55. I also reminded myself I wanted to run with thanksgiving and just really be present. Finally the race announcer came on the mic to say a few announcements. We all were so ready to just go so we no longer were just standing in the rain. And before I knew it we all started to move up to take our place and then the noise we were waiting for finally went off!
Mile 1:
The gun fired and we started. I forgot if I should start my watch once the gun went off or once I crossed the start line so I made my best guess and went with when I crossed the start line because I was a little further back. Once we were a little past the start line everyone started to spread out which was nice. I feel like we all get worried about how crowded it’s going to feel but it all works out. After a few minutes I settled in and I felt really good. The first mile had a hill or two which was tough, but I knew it was there because I ran the course a few weeks ago. A few more minutes passed and I thought to myself “I feel really good. I hope I’m going 8’05.” I look down at my watch and see that I’m at 7’45 pace. For a split second I was nervous. Because I didn’t want to blow up like I did in the 10k. But I felt peace about the pace I was going and decided to take the risk.
Mile 2:
We head into mile 2 and I still feel really good. In this mile there were a few downhills which was great, but I also told myself not to be greedy on them because I didn’t want to blow up at the end of the race. After a few minutes of mile 2 I checked my watch and it read 7’15 pace. And I thought to myself “Is this accurate because I still feel really good.” I told myself to be a smart athlete and if there were any hills coming up I would slow down just a little. I also coached myself to keep my breathing easy and to stay light on my feet. Both of these cues help me relax my body and mind when I’m running. By this time in the race I also was running by a few people for awhile so I made it my goal to keep up with them as long as I felt good.
Mile 3:
Mile 3 was of course the hardest mile of the 3. If I remember correctly there were two hills in this mile. They weren’t too big but by this point in the race it didn’t matter. They were difficult. I started to slow down around 8’00-8’10 pace for quite a bit of it, but then returned to 7’45-7’55 for a few mins between the two hills. Half way through this mile is when it got really tough. But I reminded myself what my coach told me. It’s only 7 more minutes. And when I kept getting closer to the finish line I kept repeating it’s only 5 more minutes. By the end of the 3rd mile I kept thinking, “When is the 3rd mile sign going to appear? I want this to be over.” But then I snapped out of it for a second and said, “Stay focused Shara. Your goal is to hit sub 25:30 you can do this.”
Last 0.1:
At last I finally passed the 3 mile marker. I thought to myself, “come on Shara. You can do this.” I heard the cheering and announcer! I knew I was getting close. I finally saw the finish line and clock. And when I read the clock I couldn’t believe my eyes. It read 24:45. I told myself it’s now or never. You can get sub 25 if you give it your all and go for it. I picked up the pace, my legs felt like bricks and my heart was racing but once I crossed the finish line at 24:57 gun time none of that mattered. I kept saying “oh my gosh” because of how out of breath I was, but I also was bursting with joy and gratitude. I immediately saw Jason and was just so excited! I told him that I couldn’t believe how well I did. I felt so good until the last 0.5 mile. I knew I crossed the finish line at 24:57, but I wanted to check my watch for my chip time and it read 24:40! I truly was just blown away. I ran almost a minute faster than the goal my coach and I set for myself for this race. I walked away from the race filled with so much gratitude and in awe of God. He truly did so much in and through me more than I thought was possible for this race.
-Shara