Racing!

Portland Parks & Rec is doing their $5 5k series again. I had marked my calender to make sure I was registered on the day they opened it because the series sold out so fast last year. They might be sold out by now, but if you live in the Portland area and want to do a 5K this summer, check out their website here.

Last year I ran the Gabriel Park 5k, in 35 minutes. It was the first race I’d run in a LONG time (I think Hood to Coast was the last running race I’d done) and I’d spent most of the spring and summer training for it (using the Couch To 5k App). It felt great to be running again and it felt even better to race, even if it was just a “fun” no pressure kind of race.

I’ve signed up for two races for this summer, one in August and one in September. The one in September I’m running with my dad! I’m really excited about that and I know he is too. I’m also a little nervous because he’s faster than me. Yep, my 65 year old father is in better shape and a faster runner than I am! Talk about a complex, right? But it’s just something fun that we can do together and I’m looking forward to it. I think my friend Robyn (who I ran with last year) and my dog walker Amy is signed up for the August race so it will be fun to run with them!

After work on Tuesday I decided to go for a run instead of going to the gym. The weather was too nice to be inside–60+ degrees and sunny. I decided to run the track near the house. The weather was perfect and it’s now much lighter in the evenings so that’s nice. Since I was running the track, I left Bella at home.

I jogged down our street and then jogged/walked to the neighborhood track. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and sunglasses! In MARCH! Unheard of.

I ran/walked around the track and enjoyed the warm air and the fresh air. I was so glad I decided to run. It took about a mile to warm up and not feel stiff/achy, but once I warmed up the running was fantastic and I didn’t want to stop.

After running for about 30 minutes I decided to head back home and I had planned on doing some ab work and some yoga stretches. When I got to our street I saw Michael walking Bella up the street so I ended up joining them for their walk as my cool-down. Here was the walk:

It was still nice out but the clouds were rolling in. The three of us walked around the neighborhood and then headed back home. I skipped the ab work and instead just did stretches. Here’s my calorie count:

421 calories, 3.05 miles run. I stretched and cleaned up and then Michael and fixed a quick dinner of leftovers (pork tenderloin, asparagus, cottage cheese and some polenta). It was a low calorie dinner but filling. I iced my knees to be safe, since I’m used to treadmill running right now, and we relaxed.

I’m excited about the 5k’s I signed up for. My mistake with choosing Gabriel Park last year was that it was ALL HILLS. The ones I picked for this summer, thankfully, are more flat. I’m not putting a lot of pressure on myself, but I am hoping I can run most of the 5k’s and not walk as much as I did last year. We’ll see. I hope the weather stays nice so I can continue to train outside! The rain is back now, so who knows!