Archive for category Arizona State Fair 5K

I decided to run the Arizona State Fair 5k because it was a distance I had never raced before and I was curious to see how I would perform. Plus, my brother Aaron was in town that weekend and I really wanted to do a race together. We both sets goals that would really challenge us and we encouraged each other to go after them.

Aaron’s goal was to run it under 20 minutes and mine was to run it under 22. I honestly had some serious doubts about the possibility of my goal.

The race fell on Sunday October 23 and my oh my it was a beautiful, 66 degree, sunny Arizona morning…Perfect for a short 3.10 mile run.

Aaron and I arrived at the Arizona State Fair grounds around 715am. We got our bearings, warmed up, and stretched while taking in all the colorful, amusing Arizona State Fair sights. As all the food vendors were setting up, the smell of corn dogs and turkey legs began to fill the crisp air. It was a bit ironic and comical how the race started and ended down “Fried Food Alley”.

This was the third annual State Fair 5K race and every year it has grown a little bigger. This year there were 255 attendees and I liked the intimate, friendly feel of the crowd.

Let’s get to the fun stuff:

Mile 1:

The first mile I took off like a bullet, charged like a bull, struck like a cobra, attacked like a cheetah… okay, okay enough analogies. My point is, I started off a bit too fast. I looked down at my Garmin and I was running a 6:35 pace. Yikes. I knew that wouldn’t last the whole race. I had to consciously tell myself to slow down and not go nuts so I wouldn’t run out of steam.(I can imagine this will always be an easily made mistake in short distance races.)

Mile 2-2.75:

This mile was HARD. (I can thank my over-zealousness in mile one for that.) I really started breathing harder, and my lungs felt like they were working double time. My pace was bouncing between 7 and 7:30. I began to wonder if my goal pace was really possible. I just kept my eyes on the guy in front and stayed in his cadence. ‘Just stick with him’, I thought. I somehow managed to. In fact, towards the end of mile 2, I passed him.

Mile 2.75-3.10:

The end was approaching and thank goodness because I was really feeling the heat. Not in my legs, but rather, in my lungs. My chest was heaving, begging for more air and right when I think nothing could make me go any faster, a 52 year old woman(Eileen) passes me. All the sudden I am ten times more alert and my feet start to hit the ground faster. I wasn’t about to let this “older” woman beat me. BUT DANG- she was FAST! She starts to pass me. We both come around the corner and see the finish line just a couple yards ahead. She begins to tear away from me, soaring ahead.

As pictured above, I go into an all out sprint in one last effort to catch her, but alas… FAIL. She beat me by one second.

I was blown away and hugely encouraged by her though. What a rock star she was!

And the really cool part is that I looked up at the clock as I strode through the finish line and BAM !

21:38 !

I did it !

Aaron had already finished with a time of an astonishing time of 19:15.

We both made our goals and were ecstatic about it.

I also won first place in my division which was females 25-29 year old. This is the first time since I started running and racing that I have even placed. I also placed fifth in overall female finishers which totaled over 100. I was pretty stoked about it. All in all, it was a great race and once again, the pain and sweat paid off.

To check out the stats in more details click on this link!