I have to start by saying that I’m officially not a fan of 5Ks. Holy cow do they take a lot out of me!

I was looking forward to this race for a couple of reasons. One, I don’t run many 5Ks so this was an opportunity to get the under 25min I’d been shooting for and I also really wanted to run a New Year’s race.

The start time was 10:30 a.m. but I had to get there earlier than usual because I completely forgot to pick up my bib the day I was supposed to. So, to beat the crowd and get good parking, I arrived at 9. Yeah, I was way early. I got my bib and then walked back to my car to drop off the swag we were given (I do like the shirt!). I noticed on the bib there was a space for us to write “Our Commitment” for 2014. I thought this was so cool and I grabbed a pen and jotted, Challenge Myself. That’s what I want to do this year.

I hung out in my car for a bit since it was cold out (for Arizona) and when I saw 9:45 I started walking to the start line.

There was a big crowd and this was an untimed race so I knew people would be all over the place as far as speed went. I decided that even though I wasn’t the fastest out there, I’d scoot myself closer to the front so I wouldn’t have to doge around too many people.

The national anthem was sung and then a countdown was started. At one, a bullhorn sounded and we were off!

I started running and made sure my watch was at its pace setting. I prefer looking at my pace rather than time/distance.

Once I felt settled in, I glanced down to check out my pace and saw 6:40. I was so confused; that couldn’t be right. I clicked to return to time/distance then clicked to return to pace thinking maybe I had it on a wrong setting. No, it still read 6:40. I stopped looking at my watch and started concentrating on running but was bummed that I must have pressed something to mess up the watch.

I knew we were approaching the first mile because I had studied the map the night before, and soon enough my watch beeped the first mile done. 7:25. WHAAT??!!??

I was in shock seeing that time displayed and realized my watch wasn’t broken, I was really going that fast! I couldn’t believe it. I decided heck, since I was feeling good, I might as well shoot for somewhere in the sevens for each mile.

Mile two-7:42.

I seriously was running in complete disbelief. I knew I was well on my way to getting that sub 25 and told myself to just kill it and get the best time I could since I was already here.

I turned the corner and heard my name shouted out. Who was that? I’m always in such a zone when I run but my name is pretty unique so when I heard it, I turned my head at the direction it came from. It was my husband! I was excited to see him there with my kids and I told myself to go, go, go! The faster I finished, the faster I’d see them.

I could see the finish line in the distance and mustered whatever energy I had left to pick up speed and finish strong. I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch before almost collapsing on the event volunteer leading runners towards the water/food table.

I looked at my watch and saw 22:05. NO. WAY. I looked at the distance and saw 2.87 miles. Wah waaah…it was a short 5k course : ( I was a little bummed because I wanted an official 3.1 for my PR 5k. (ETA: A fellow runner friend said she re-mapped the course and got 3.05 miles. Not sure what the actual distance was, but that made me feel a little better) I told myself that even had it been a full 3.1, I would have definitely, without a doubt, gotten a sub 25. Plus, my average pace was 7:41. 7:41!!!

My husband found me and I showed him my time. He’s my biggest fan and supporter so he knew how much I wanted a sub 25. He had the same look I had when he saw 22:05 and 7:41 avg/mile : )

I walked around to cool off. Reaching my goal and seeing that number makes me so happy and proud of the hard work I’ve been putting in lately. I did what I said I wanted to do and that was challenge myself. I’m excited to continue doing that this year.

My favorite cheerleader

–Did you run a race yesterday?

–How was your New Year’s?