In 2010 the Love Run in Westlake was my 2nd ever run. It was my first timed run and my first real “event”. Previously I’d run a fun 5k in Woodranch which whilst fun and a good prep for races wasn’t really a ‘proper’ racing event. In the Love Run in 2010 I’d done the 5k in 25:07 so I was eager to get at least that time again however the week leading up to the race had not been without its issues!
I’d been slowly breaking in some new running shoes (new balance) and had walked, biked and done bodycombat in them, but as yet not run. Wednesday I decided to run in them and… got blisters on both heels! Not good!
Needless to say the training kind of came to a halt after this! I managed to walk (mostly in flip flops as these blisters had to be ‘open’ to heal) and I still did classes but other than that no running. I got some miles on the bike Friday and that was it for cardio…. Not good! So really I was pushing things to get the 5K done under 25 minutes considering the coughing, the hip/ankle issues I’d been having recently and now the darn blisters.
FridayI travelled to Road Runner sports in Newbury Park to pick up our race packets. Whilst there I browsed and tried to shop, tried because they didn’t have shoes I wanted in my size 🙁 … I’ll be reviewing products from the race swag as I try them 🙂
Saturday evening we had a wedding to attend so let’s just say that bright and early Sunday morning was NOT fun for us 😉 The race started at 8am so we were up super early to get a light breakfast and walk the dogs (kind of a warm up right?) then hop into the car and drive to Westlake for the race. I remembered parking being a challenge last time so leaving early was a good idea. It’s always a good idea really. Better to be early than late and rushing around. My friend Teresa was running in the 10K and Doug was supposed to be running the 5K but had a bad landing skydiving the previous weekend and his knee was giving him all kinds of problems after a training run during the week, so it was a case of Bob, and I against the world! 😉 Once there though we found two other of my class members Diana and Stephen! Nice to see people you know at races, this is why I like the local races!!!
I’d taken my (new) headphones but planned on keeping the volume low to see if I would push myself like last time at the Creekside Chase. I didn’t have Doug to push me, and I wasn’t 100% sure that the music was helping. On a training run last week I discovered I ran to the beat of the music so if the music slowed down… so did I! If the volume was low (like creekside) I may run faster right? To combat slow music I changed my playlist to ALL the muay thai tracks from bodycombat, they are super fast and motivating….
From the previous time I ran this race I knew there would be hills so I was prepared for a tough run, with at least one hill. This route had two hills though and mostly on the way back. I decided on this race to change things and not go balls to the wall straight off, I decided to pace myself and set a pace and stick with it. This seemed to work as my split times were pretty consistent. I taped up my heels with moleskin before we left and it seemed to be great initially, no pain and no rubbing. However at mile 2 on the way uphill the right side had unstuck and was sliding up my sock. I was in a little pain with the right heel and had to really push myself to finish, never mind trying to keep the same pace! I could see Stephen in my sights throughout the race and he finished 4 places in front of me 🙂 All all in I was pretty pleased with how I ran, especially considering the heel blisters! Saturday night I wasn’t 100% sure I would be running…
So not a PB for a 5k, but a record for this event! Also it’s the second time I’ve finished the 5k in under 25 minutes so I am happy about that! Overall I was 69th out of 712 runners and 17th out of 454 female runners. I came 6th in my age group. The winner of our age group was 22:23 so I have a ways to go yet. I know from my previous time running this event that this is a popular race and many fast runners compete here. In 2010 with a 5k time of 25:07 I was 8th in my age group! In other events that’s fast enough for 1st place! I’ve said this before but it all depends on the event and who races on the day.
Bob did well also with a race time of 28:14 which isn’t a PB for him but for hills this is a great time and it secured him 8th in his age group! Awesome job! Bob was disappointed that there were no finisher medals and honestly that’s one thing that would make this race a “MUST DO NEXT YEAR” for me. Whilst I like the t-shirts I would prefer a finisher medal.
The post race party was fun, with some goodies, food and drinks and the usual post race photos!
Bob and I post race
Stephan and Diana
Me and Teresa
The girls: Diana, me and Teresa!