Zooma International Women's Day Virtual 5K Race Report

I debated about writing a race report for a virtual race but then I figured, why not? If you want to read up on the virtual race I ran you can do so here.

Without further ado, on to the report...

I took my photo with my bib as instructed, set my apple watch and the running app on my phone and took off down the driveway.



Literally 20 steps into the run my left foot lands wrong and my ankle instantly starts hurting. I briefly wonder if it's going to set off the old ankle injury but within a matter of seconds it is back to feeling normal and I continue on my way.

About .25 miles into the run I am already feeling tired and wanting to just turn back, but I know this is going to be a mental run today, not a physical run, and tell myself to just suck it up and deal.   {Quite frankly those are the more important. It's easy to run when you feel like it - when you're well rested and everything feels perfect.  It's hard to run when you're coming off of being sick, exhausted, stressed, not properly fueled or hydrated, or just not feeling it.}

About .5 miles in, I make my way out of the neighborhood and turn to run on the sidewalk along one of the main streets. As I'm running all I can think of is how much nicer it is running along the roads here as opposed to in Indiana! Since I now live in a huge city, we have sidewalks everywhere - no more getting shoved off the roads into the weeds as cars pass by.

As I close in on the 1 mile mark, I make a turn and began running along a different road. I'm running directly into the sun Yuck! and into the wind Yay! and I'm still struggling.  I can feel myself speeding up because I'm tired and want it over but I also know that I can't sustain the pace and I'm going to crap out before I reach 3.1 miles if I don't slow down.  For a while my only focus is on the pace and trying to keep one I know I can stay with.

At 1.35 miles, I pass another entrance into my neighborhood and can hear the couch calling my name.  I ignore it and cruise on past and keep going. At this point, I really start to think about the point of this 5K.  I start to think about all of the women before me who fought some very hard won battles for the rights and freedoms that we have gained.  I start thinking about women in other countries and what many of them have to endure.  I just keep telling myself over and over, this run is nothing compared to the struggles of so many.  Just Keep Going.  Do it in honor of everything they have done for you and every other woman who now has the right to work, the right to vote, the right to make their own decsions, the right to have their own opinions.

Probably somewhere around 2 miles, I make another turn and am no longer running into the sun Yay! but now the wind is blowing across me. Yuck! Right at this point "Eye of the Tiger" comes on and it fires me up and keeps me moving for the rest of the song. Just as it finishes, I turn another corner and now the wind is to my back. Without the air, I feel hot and my legs feel heavy. I can tell my lungs are tired from being sick earlier in the week. I know they'd really love it if I stopped but they aren't getting their way.

Not today.

I'm about 2.5 miles into the run and I'm struggling. I am determined to actually RUN this race so except for the few short walk breaks to drink a little water, I'm running farther without stopping than I have thus far and I'm. freaking. tired. I search for a song to motivate me to keep going and finally settle on "Let's Go" by Trick Daddy. It works and I get fired up to end this thing strong.

I'm hanging in there, but I'm still exhausted. So my eyes are glued to my phone just waiting for the second that it hits 3.1 miles. It FINALLY does, and I slow to a walk and snap a post race selfie.



Of course, there is no official time, and I didn't actually stop my watch and app until I'd returned home which was a little farther than the 3.1 miles. So here's the best info I have for splits/pace:

Mile 1 12:07
Mile 2 12:18
Mile 3 12:09
Mile .4 16:33 (walking as soon as the .1 was done!)

Temp: 70° F