Race Recapping: 5Ks in 2014

Blogging. Running. Writing the great American novel.  All things that people may have on their daily or weekly "to do list". All things that seem to get pushed aside when this other little thing called LIFE gets in the way. I seem to lose steam on this blog when life does in the way. That and it is so hard to write something posed to the great unknown, not knowing if anyone is going to read it.  Maybe I should treat this blog as my online diary, writing for myself, and if someone else opens the diary....well, have at it!!!

A lot has changed since my last entry. The year of 2014 was my year of running a race very month. It seems like that is one goal that runners will have at least once in their lifetime. It might come right at the beginning of their running life, or maybe towards the end when they need one more HURRAH before hanging up their sneakers.

Things have gone crazy in our household, and running 1 race a month like I did in 2014 was absolutely CRAZY!!!! So in order to catch up you to the present day, I'll write several compressed entries, instead of telling you about every.single.race (because runners would never do that, right???)

This entry I'll tell you about my 5Ks.  I briefly commented briefly on the January 5K that I ran in 2014, and then took some time to run other distances.  Seriously, it is hard to find longer distances to run in Nashville in the summer. No one wants to lace up at 7am for anything longer than 3.1 miles when it is already 75 degrees and 88% humidity.  But I ran the inaugural Run of 9-1-1 5K, which was a benefit for the police. Starting out I was not a fan of the course, because the starting line was on an incline.  But what goes up must come down. So the finish line is also downhill!!! To date it is my best 5K with a final time of 31:49, so close to the 30-minute mark!!! I hope to break that 30-minute marker some day.....

Next up where the July 4th Firecracker 5K, which was the third time I have run that particular race.  My first time (2010) I clocked a 33:24, which I was really proud of at the time because that was my very first race ever! The next time I ran it was in 2013, right before formal training for my first half marathon, and on that particular day it was POURING rain---one of those rains where everything on you is drenched. I think it took my shoes two days to dry out (this was before I realized the magic of stuffing your shoes with newspaper). Anyway, that 2013 time was 37:16. YIKES!! So when I ran the race in 2014, I was really happy to have clocked a time of 32:25, my best time on that course!! Not as good as the race the month before, but still a "win" in my book.

My final two 5K races for 2014 happened in November and December. Both were cold, with the November race colder than what it should have been! I was going to run the 10K, but on race day (which is when I registered), I opted for the 5K.  No need to stay out there any longer than needed. In fact, I remember my toes being so cold that it took 1.8 miles of running to finally feel them again! November's Culminator 5K was clocked at 34:24, and December's Cause for Claws 5K was a little faster at 33:38.

So now that you are caught up on my 5K races, it's time for you to lace up your shoes, run a race, and beat my time!