Movin’ Shoes Frosty 5k

I don’t know how you spent your Saturday, but I was busy running a race!  12 races, 12 months is well under way. Weeee!

You may remember my Commitment Day run being a mere 16 degrees.  Well, apparently cold races are how I’m starting off my racing year; today it was a bitter 12 degrees as I ran the Movin’ Shoes Frosty 5k around the capitol in Madison, WI.

I was having a hard time finding a 5k that was matching up well with my training and believe it or not, February races are few and far between.  When I saw there was a race in Madison that wasn’t very expensive and fit in my plan almost perfectly, I knew it was the way to go.  To top it off, I have some family not far from Madison that came out to cheer me on and then we got to cheer my cousin at her swim meet after.  Sweet!

Back to the race…

Did I mention it was cold? Besides for the frigid temps, conditions were pretty good (minus the warning to watch out for dog poop).  The check-in/bib pick up was in a hotel right by the starting line which provided restrooms and a warm place to hang out until just a few minutes prior to kick off.  Thank goodness!

The course wasn’t terrible.  We ran around the square and then out a bit towards the college campus, back up a hill (that was pretty brutal) and back around the square to finish.  I think I started too far back in the crowd as things felt really slow in the beginning until I could break away from the pack and get into my groove.  I wasn’t looking for any kind of PR in that cold, but I wanted to stay under 30 minutes which I did!

My running has definitely been slower this year as I’ve been trying to work on increasing my mileage versus increasing my speed, but this was a good reminder that I do need to do more speed and hill work so I’m in all-around good running shape for my 1/2 marathon.

Regardless, it was a great run and I had a blast!

Don’t mind my closed eyes…

Now to find a March 10k…got any leads? 😉

How’s your weekend going?

Any fun plans?