A Virtual Race #djv5k

Before going into a race recap, I want to take a quick minute to thank all the lovely ladies who participated in the Fall Virtual 5k hosted by Jenny and me. It was pretty awesome to periodically check InstaGram to see all the results and pictures of all the ladies participating! (If you participated, please be sure to link up your recaps at the bottom of this post.)

We had a total of 37 lovely ladies sign up. Not too shabby for our first go at this whole virtual race thing. If you ran the #djv5k but didn't post your pictures and results to InstaGram and/or Facebook, be sure to do so. We want to see how you did! 

It was awesome to see ladies from all over the country participating. Pictured above are runners who were pounding pavement in: California, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, South Dakota, and Texas. Temperatures ranged from 37 degrees to 70 + degrees. It was inspiring and amazing to see everyone get out and get after it, regardless the time of day or weather conditions. 

I have to say, personally this 5k was more fun and more challenging that I had expected. Essentially it was a race against myself, which I've never really done before. 

Earlier this summer I ran a 5k and hit a PR of 24:16, so I thought I might try to beat that time by a few seconds. In my mind I was shooting for 24:10.  Running solo doesn't always lend the most competitive vibe, so I was tying not to set myself up for a lot of hype, or disappointment.

When it was time to run I hit my favorite route, and I hit it hard. 

The first mile felt awesome. I hit a pace I rarely never clock. At the half way mark I could feel my pace slow a bit. And by mile three all I could think of was "one-tenth of a mile to go, one-tenth of a mile to go." Between the thought of finishing, and the fictitious man who was chasing me (not kidding, I imagined a man on my tail, chasing me, to help keep the pep in my step), I clocked my most recent PR.

23:27.54. 43 seconds better than my goal. I'll take it, please and thank you.

Competing against yourself, and no one else, is quite the mind game. But the gratification at the end and seeing the finish time was a very welcomed and pleasant surprise. 

Looks like more virtual races will be in my future! 

Did you run the race? How did it go? Let us know, the link-up is open through Sunday!