Women’s Running Race Series – 5k

Last Sunday I’ve been on Women’s Running Race Series, the 5k run. I mentioned I’m going to race before, when I talked about How I prepare for 5k in collaboration with Roots Collective, the oficial sponsor of race series. In Liverpool, Women’s Running Race Series was held in Sefton Park. There are more races if you want to have a go.

I made a routine and I was able to stick to it in the first three weeks, but after 7th July I had some health issues, a cold paired with a headache, and I wasn’t able to run as planned. I did some pushups, but it’s not exactly helpful for running.

I wanted to have a good time as the first point in my 40 before 40 list was to run a 5k in under 40 minutes. I was motivated to do that, but I wasn’t sure I will be able to do it.

I usually workout or run in the mornings, after walking the dog, at around 8am, before breakfast. On Sunday, at the race, I was running later, as the race started a bit after 10am. So, I had a light breakfast, only a sandwich and some raw peppers, less than I usually have. I had two espressos 30-40 minutes before the race and a banana 15 minutes before. Now I think I should have had the coffee and the banana closer to the race. For the race I made my own energy drink with golden syrup and sea salt (it has more minerals than regular salt). I though it was a good idea, until I had a drink during running and it was yucky. I still drank it as it was a better option comparing to water, but I’m not going to make this energy drink again.

I managed to get to my objective. According to my app, I did 5k in 37 minutes. I crossed the finish line in 39 minutes (and 5.2 km according to my app) and either way I was under the 40 minutes. I think the difference is that I start my app before actually passing the start line, as I was further down the field. I will consider the 37 minutes as the result as I paced myself with the app. I was looking at the stats when I was running, I knew the time I wanted to achieve and I made sure I did it.

I’m a long way off the winners, I imagine they had under 30 minutes, but for me this was the best result I had and I’m proud of myself.

The official results are out and my Chip time is 39:01. I finished 39 from 73.

*I was invited. All opinions are my own.