I woke up on race day to pouring rain. I laid in bed thinking about forgetting the rainy run and sleeping in. As appealing as it sounded, I knew I couldn’t not go. I was naturally running late, but since the run was so close by, I got to the start line just in time to hear the send off. The race was three laps around the park – one smaller and two larger. The course was very well marked with lots of volunteers along the course holding arrows showing us where to go.

Since it had been cold and rainy going in, I was wearing a jacket, but as I started to warm up, I wanted nothing more than to take my jacket off. I was kind of proud of my mid run wardrobe change, but I had to stop to take off my Garmin because I couldn’t get my sleeve off. At one point during the run I was pretty sure I was the only person left. I could see a few people ahead of me, but no one behind me. With only 500 participants, groups got pretty spread out, but luckily I wasn’t last!

I had to take some walking breaks, but eventually I made it to the finish line in 36:39, with an average pace of 11:49 per mile. It’s not my best 5k time, but its a start. I can only go up from here throughout the summer.

I also loved the email I received a few minutes after crossing the finish line!

What’s your fastest 5k?

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My Saturday began at 5:30 when the alarm rang. I got up and got dressed before waking up/ apologizing to my guys who were accompanying me to the race and festival. You know it’s true love when someone will wake up at 5am on a Saturday to watch to run.

We were out the door by 6 and had a 45 minute drive to get to Bethlehem from the Poconos, where we were staying. As soon as we got into Bethlehem, I saw the signs and runners making their way to the start line and I started to get really excited. I picked up my packet, pinned on my number and made my way to the start line.

I ran into some fellow Fitfluential Ambassadors at the start line, but I failed on getting a picture, as usual. It was fun to put a face to the ladies whose blogs I read on a regular basis.

After the singing of the National Anthem, we were off. The race went through the streets of Bethlehem and along the Steelstacks. The old furnaces from the Steel plants gave the race and whole event an amazing backdrop.

Mile one was tough. Almost all uphill and sadly I did take a walking break. Fail on my one goal, but I started to get what I think was a shin split, a pain that I have never felt before and had to stop to shake out my leg and attempt to stretch the pain away. By the time I got to the mile marker by pace was over 12:30. I wasn’t too happy about it, but I trekked on.

Mile two was a good deal of downhill, I took this as an opportunity to catch up and make up for the time I wasted walking. I hit the mile two marker with a time of 21 minutes. For a second, I wondered if the marker time was off because there was no way that I could have ran that mile in under 1o minutes.

Mile three was pretty good until the last hill. The pain returned  and I walked until I got to the top of the hill. I started getting really excited when I heard the music and the crowds at the finish line. Crossing the finish line was an amazing feeling. Since this was only my second race, I had never really experienced the cheer of the crowds and how big a difference it can make on you race experience.

My official time was 35:05 with an 11:18 pace per mile.

My whole race experience was great. From packet pickup that morning to getting my medal and banana after the race, everything went smoothly and I could not have hoped to have a better time.

Little did I know that my day at the Runner’s World Half and Festival was only beginning! I’ll be back tomorrow to recap the expo and everything I learned along the way!

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There are going to be three races over the course of the weekend – 5k, 10k and a half marathon. There is also an option to hat trick and do all three in 24 hours! The hat trick sounds so bad ass, and I wish I had the proper training to do it. There’s always next year, right?

I will be doing the 5k – my first real 5k. October seems to be a month of firsts for me! My only goal for the race is to run the whole thing without walking. After looking at the course map, it might be a bit difficult to achieve that goal. The first mile of the race is a pretty large elevation climb, but luckily the rest is all downhill.

Either way, I am beyond excited and pumped to be a part of this great event and cannot wait to run my heart out yet again!

You can be sure that I will be back next week with a total recap of the weekend’s festivities!

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