Valentine's 5K Race Recap

I woke up this morning to a chilly, windy day.  24 degrees, feels like 13...with around 15mph wind! This is really the first race all winter that I've even had to think about the cold.  Although I was hoping it would motivate me to run faster! :)

I threw on my Under Armour cold gear essentials and headed down to Prospect Park. 

I've said it many times that I love running in Prospect Park.  Although some parts of the loop are a little hilly, I think the park itself is beautiful and really makes for a great course.  Once again, kudos to the folks at NYCRuns for putting on a fantastic race for a sweet $21 race fee. 


There was a little confusion about where the start line was because they didn't lay the mats out until 10 minutes before the race started, and there were no mile markers, but who cares for a 3.1 mile race? The course started on the West side of the park near Center Drive and followed a counter-clockwise loop of the park to the finish at the 15th street entrance.  


My legs felt a little tight from a nice yoga workout yesterday, but I felt comfortable enough to push my pace a bit.  Maybe I just wanted to finish faster because I was cold and it was windy.  I definitely got distracted because there were lots of puppies playing in the park toward the end, because before I knew it I was crossing the finish line.  With a new 5K PR!  Of course, I forgot to stop my watch right as I finished, so I think my "official time" will be a little faster, but 26:53 is still awesome for me!  In case you're wondering that's a 8:39 pace.  :)

new 5K PR

My only complaints about the race involve other runners.  First, so many runners were wearing their race shirts during the race rather than waiting until after they've "earned" it.  This drives me nutty! It definitely is a nice long-sleeve shirt but come on! Also, about half-way through I almost fell dodging a huge loogie from a girl in front of me whose Mizunos I was admiring.  Now I have NO problem with spitting and I do it quite often on runs, but I make sure to move to the side and check for fellow runners around me before doing so! That girl may have some nice shoes, but she definitely needs to bone up on her running etiquette.  
I digress....Back to the positive stuff!  At the finish line, they handed out red carnations to all women runners, which was a very cute touch.  

I'm not much of a girly girl, so my first thought was "carnations are cute and all, but where's my bagel?"  Lucky for me, there were plenty of bagels and hot chocolate back at race HQ. 

that's better.

All in all the Valentine's 5K was a great race and a fabulous start to my day!  I'll definitely be back for more races with the NYCRuns crew.  

sweet long-sleeve race shirt!

Now it's time to relax and do some internship work before Sunday "family" dinner! 
Have a great week everyone! :)