On New Year's Eve I ran a 5k in Wales. It is a 3-loop course, in the dark, with one out-and-back hill in the middle. I pre-ran the loop and was fairly certain my time would be much slower than my Park Run 5k two days prior (where I ran 19:50). I had only run 5x since taking a month off, so figured my approach again should be to just run steady and comfortably - NO 5k race pace allowed. Again, not easy for me since I am so competitive, but I figured good practice for challenging myself in a different way once again.
After a nice fireworks show we were off. I lined up in the middle, which later I would learn is not a great idea when the roads are quite narrow, but figured it went along with my plan to keep my pace under control and not race all out.
Shaun on his way to a 17:40.
The course was awesome - I loved the hill. And coming through town on each of the 3-loops there were tons of people lining the barriers cheering. A big NYE party in the middle of a race. It was great.
What is awesome about this photo is that there is an old man behind me that will smoke me in the final 200m. I also think the police officers all reflected-out look pretty cool.
Apparently you don't lose fitness as fast as you think. I ran 19:07 - not close to my PR, but I had absolutely no expectations and it was a lot of fun. I also got a mention in an article on CNN as the girl from San Diego who came all the way to Nos Galan to race a New Year's 5k. Funny.
