First 5K Ever

I woke up about 7 this morning, took a shower, put on a little makeup and did my hair. I know that's serious overkill and I put my hair in a ponytail as soon as I got to the race, but I needed all the confidence I could muster and the makeup and hair helped. I drank about half my usual amount of coffee, ate a Kashi bar, and I was off.

I picked up two friends and we were on our way to Corvallis by 8:00 a.m. Registration opened at 9:00, the 5k ran at 10:00. I don't know if I was driving fast or the traffic was light or what, but we drove up to the parking lot at Reser Stadium by 8:30. I'm guessing I will not be one who sets the departure time next race. haha. Since we were so early, we drove to a Dutch Brothers on the other side of campus and sipped on Americanos while we waited.

We checked in on the field at Reser Stadium about 9:40 and it was c.o.l.d. down there. After I picked up my race shirt and number, I changed into the race shirt as it was warmer than what I had shown up in. (Plus, I really wanted to wear it! I did this whole thing for the shirt, you know) We lined up near the middle of the pack at the starting line and off we went.

We weren't really sure what would happen as far as staying together, but the three of us ran together the whole way. T set her watch for 6/1 intervals and we decided to just see how we felt at the end of the first 6 minutes. Turned out we all felt good so we kept on running. We tried to take our pace pretty slow the first mile. None of the people behind us were really passing us much, but we were slowly picking people off in front of us. Mile one wasn't bad, but I didn't really feel like I had a groove. Kept finding my arms practically tucked up under my armpits and had to keep remembering to relax.

By mile two I had found my groove and felt pretty good. We were making our way through campus which, of course, is beautiful even in late fall like this. About the time we hit mile 3, we decided to intentionally pick off a few people. Lady in blue hat: overtaken. Lady with long blonde hair: history. After that, way up ahead of us, Trish spotted someone from her running clinic and we decided to overtake her. She was aways out, but we focused on her and happily waved to her as we passed her by.

The last half of the last mile was getting tough. I was feeling pretty tired, but no way we were slowing down at that point. We came around the back side of the stadium, rounded the giant football sculpture out front and then headed for the stadium entrance. The finish line was down the stadium entrance, around one of the goal posts, then all the way across the football field about 80 yards, ending under a giant Beaver Believer inflatable arch at the 20 yard line.

As we entered the stadium and then rounded the goal post, I was distracted by the fact that we had made it and was busy mentally congratulating myself when I looked up and noticed T and C were sprinting like mad fools, all out for the finish line. I took off sprinting, trying with all my might to catch them, but they had the jump on me. Watching them try to beat each other was funny since they just met today, but I had to focus on my running as I thought I might just have a heart attack and croak right there at the 50 yard line of Reser Stadium. The thought flashed through my mind that if I had to go, at least the men in my life would be proud that I went on the 50 yard line.

I sprinted all the way to the finish to the cheers of the finishers ahead of me. It was so fantastic! The good news is that I, obviously, survived, and I felt like a million bucks. I made the girls get their picture taken with me and Benny Beaver, we ate snacks, wandered around, cheered on the 1k finishers who ran after we did, and checked our times. My finish time was 34:13, which is my new personal best.

I did it, I loved it, and I can't wait to do it again!