Brew Haha 5K

On October 31, 2020, I ran the Halloween Brew Haha 5K, another live race! It was a gorgeous day for a run, and more so for a race. It was also nice to be running a live race after being cooped up and working from home for months. I've been very careful selecting smaller races with minimum travel (local races specifically) that follow the state requirements and guidelines during Covid. This one was a good one to choose from.

Since I was never able to wear full costumes in the Miami Halloween races due to Halloween being hot and humid, I wanted to wear something I couldn't wear in Miami. The weather cooperated, bring low 30s, and feels like high 20s on that day. Slightly windy and sunny; perfect running weather.

As I struggled with my allergy shots and asthma through October, and being mentally and physically drained, my running suffered. I switched from running to run/walking to help me breathe through the worse of the asthma/allergies. I switched from allergy shots twice a week to just once a week to be able to handle them. I ran very few miles in October, so I was not expecting much on this race. I was wearing a full cowboy outfit from INKnBURN that included cowboy pants, a tech shirt, a long sleeve over that tech shirt, mask and a cowboy hat. Does this outfit smells like PR to you? I think not. But I sure looked cute!

The last 5K I raced was the Cheers to the New Year's 5K on January 1, 2020, pre-Covid (although I ran the Mission 22: Run for Hope 5K two weeks before the Halloween one, I didn't race it to my best capacity and didn't try). Although my PR for the 5K is 24:02, this old lady is never expecting to break that, but I've been feeling since I got to Indiana, that I can break 30 minutes in the 5K but I've been training for marathons for years so my best at the Cheers to the New Year's 5K earlier this year was 30:36.

But none of this crossed my mind as I stepped on the starting line of the Brew Haha 5K. My plan was to do the same run/walk I've been doing for a few weeks and to breathe. I didn't even warm up before the race, something I need before racing a short distance so that my asthma does not kill me.

I didn't follow the plan at all! By the time my first walk alarm sounded, I felt wonderful and my pace was 10:14mm (wut?) and didn't want to stop. So I let the walk go by and the second walk break, and then the third, and I started challenging myself to run for as long as my lungs can tolerate it. First mile went by at 10:14mm and I still felt fine. 10:14mm has never been a time I've put lately in the last few months. My runs at MP have been a bit faster than that but a struggle. I was barely doing any speedwork in the last month because I felt like crap. But when Mile 2 rolled in and I was still running and I finished it in 9:10mm, I started feeling like I was racing this. I tried not to panic as I do during every 5K by Mile 3 and make myself slow down for fear of the asthma attack that always follows. But while the last two 5K races I have done had me going out too fast and not being unable to breathe by Mile 3, this one I started too slow and by Mile 3 I was flying. I cursed myself for not warming up before the race as that 10:14mm at Mile 1 could've been a bit faster. I tried to gain back some of that time but ended up with 9:10mm for the third mile. Wow! I couldn't believe it. But now I had a bit of a hill and then a sprint to the finish and noticed after the hill I had not much sprint left but I tried. People must have think I looked like a woman possessed for someone as slow, lol.

I finished in 30:45mm. So, a full 9 seconds slower than in January, when I was in peak marathon shape, 10lbs less, and not dressed like a cowboy at the circus. And now I wonder what I could've done if I had dressed in shorts, a tank and arm warmers, lol. I was going to find out on Thanksgiving but thanks to the recent rise of Covid races, my races got canceled. Oh, well. I shall continue trying to break that 30 minute mark once again.