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did you know i ran a 5k at the beginning of the month? probably not. i'll be completely upfront here: this was not my race. probs why nobody heard about it until now.
nice view for a packet pickup, i'd say!
similar to my last 5k, i totally forgot about the fact that i signed up for it. it makes sense this time around, though, seeing as i signed up for the race 8 months ago and was just coming off my dumbo double dare high from the weekend before. you can imagine, then, my surprise when i got an email reminder about a packet pickup...two days before the race! luckily, i was able to make it down to navy pier the day before to get my bib and shirt. i also took the opportunity to sign up for a turkey day race and got a free beanie, as well as 10% off registration, for signing up at the expo. things were starting off well with this race!
and that's about where the positivity ended.
the next morning, i woke up bright and early to catch the bus down to jackson park. well, as luck would have it, the bus was 25 minutes delayed, so by the time we got to the south side, the roads were already blocked off for the half marathon portion of the race. me and two other 5k-ers had to walk about a mile to gear check and then make our way to the corral with a few minutes to spare. it was at gear check that i realized i only brought two safety pins for my bib and that i didn't bring my arm band, so i had to leave my phone behind. it was in the corral that i realized i forgot to charge my garmin, and it was blinking at me about low battery. oops, lots and lots of oops.
photo courtesy of hyundai hope on wheels facebook page.
the race started and i took off. because i didn't know when my garmin would die, i figured i would just go as fast as i could and not worry about pacing. the weather was great in that first mile, and since i had never been to jackson park, i was enjoying the loop. before i knew it, i saw the 1st mile marker, and my garmin flash a 9:37. whaaat! some quick math in my head told me that if i kept this pace, not only would i pr, i would hit my goal of breaking 30 minutes! sooo unexpected for this race. i felt great, so i decided to keep on pushing. at mile 1.25, i glanced down at my pace and saw i was keeping a 9:20 pace. awesomeeee. i was flying (by my standards haha) and wasn't feeling tired in the slightest, so i really felt a pr was in my near future.
and then, over half way through that second mile, while keeping a 9:25 pace, my ankle completely gave out. i mean, the pain just went straight up the side of my foot, wrapped around the bottom, and oh my god, i couldn't believe it. i slowed to a walk, which made everything else in my body start cramping up, and i knew my pr goal was done. for the next mile, i ran when i could, and stopped when my ankle told me to. i hobbled across the finish line in 33:55 and sulked over to gear check. i was in such disbelief that my ankle was hurting so badly, especially two races in a row.
so fashionable.
at first, i was really upset about feeling so close to breaking 30, but i quickly got over it. it was exciting knowing that i could keep a fast enough pace to do so, and that all i'd really need to do was get my ankle feeling better to try again. so, for the past three weeks, since that event, i've taken a break from running mostly. just a few short runs here and there, lots of kt tape and ice, and being as gentle with my ankle as possible. i think it worked, and i'm glad, because turkey trot training (i love alliteration) starts tomorrow! i'm hoping i can work on maintaining that speed i had at the beginning of the hyundai 5k and get a time i'm proud of in november, and have no ankle pain! here we go!
