Fourth of July kicked off with the Freedom Run 5 Miler for me. I made it my goal to work on my speed this summer and fall, and the first race of this endeavor was the Freedom Run 5 Miler.
This is a small race in my hometown but still fun to run. I have actually run it twice before with the first time running it easy with a friend, the second time with my sister–doing it as a workout, and then this time truly racing it. (Or racing it as much as I could given the heat and humidity.)
The race started not too far from my house, so I ran to the start for my warm-up. When I got to the start, I drank my UCAN Energy drink mix, picked up my bib, and then did my drill work/stretches/striders. With about 10 minutes to go, I took a packet of UCAN Edge to give me one last boost of energy before I started. The day was already pretty warm, with the temperature at 83*F and the humidly at 73%. I knew this was going to affect my performance, but I also knew there was nothing I could do about it. I had hydrated well the day before and the morning of, so I did my best to set myself up for the best race possible.
I can pretty much tell within a few steps how I am going to feel during the race, and this race was no different. My legs didn’t have much pop those first few steps, and I knew it was going to be fighting against my body to do what I wanted it to do for much of the race.
I held onto a decent pace for the first mile but then had some positive-splits-for-positive-people vibes going on for the rest of the race. Ha!
Mile 1 – 6:18
Mile 2 – 6:31
Mile 3 – 6:37
Mile 4 – 6:41
Mile 5 – 6:29
Time – 32:21
I ran by myself for the majority of the race. I had a couple guys to chase down throughout the race, but otherwise it felt like a solo tempo run on the roads I run every day.
With two miles to go, it started feeling even harder, but I thought about so many of my friends or other people I know/follow on social media who are going through much harder things than myself and told myself that if they can do hard things, surely I can finish this race strong.
I passed a teenage kid with about a quarter mile to go, and I tried to hold him off, but I also knew if he still had something left in the tank, these old lady legs wouldn’t be able to keep up. Of course he passed me back with 200 meters to go, so I let him go. I did finish 1st for the women and 5th overall, which was fun.
It was a fun little race and good to connect to the running community here. I have to reacquaint myself with a new running community since I was so plugged into the running community in Anchorage after being there for 15 years.
I mentioned I took a UCAN Edge gel prior to this race and right now I am collaborating with UCAN so you can try their gels too! You can get 6 UCAN Edge gels for free (you just have to pay the cost of shipping) if you have ever considered trying them. I have been using UCAN products for 10 years–back when it was called Generation Ucan and there was only a pre-run and post-run drink mix–but I have been a loyal user since. Their gels give you a boost of energy while being gentle on your stomach and keep your energy levels sustained instead of the dips you might experience with other gels.
Next weekend is the Raspberry Run 1 Mile race, which I am a little terrified about–but also excited! I have never run a one mile race, so it will be interesting to see how it goes!
