Chicago Women's 5K

 

3.1 miles. Conquered. Woot, woot!

Yesterday morning at 6:50am my friend Tasha and I ran the 5K portion of the Chicago Women's Half Marathon & 5K. Despite the early start time, the race was awesome. 

The course started in Grant Park and wrapped around the lake to the Museum Campus. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. There were about 1,000 women who rank the 5K. It was a wonderful, diverse group of all ages and sizes.

While our training using the C25K app was far from hardcore or amazingly consistent, it got us moving which was the whole point. We ran most of the course and finished with a time of 38:30.  

Three to four months ago it had been two years since I'd run on any consistent basis, if at all. I ran my first 5K five years ago in Everett doing the YMCA Yankee Doodle Dash. I'm definitely not going to wait five years again until I do another one. 

I have no desire to ever run a half marathon but I'd like to stay in shape enough to run a 5K whenever I feel like it. That's my ultimate fitness goal.

I'm so grateful Tasha and I decided to run a 5K together. Running with a friend is so much more motivating, and now we know we can do it! Next stop, the Hot Chocolate 5K in November and finishing under 35 minutes.

P.S. Like our good buddy Mindy Kaling, we run so we can feel better about eating pancakes. After the race we rendezvoused to Kanela for brunch. I enjoyed the French Toast Flight, which included four types of french toast: lemon poppy seed (the winner), orange, banana, and red velvet. Amazing.