Blacksburg, VA | June 18, 2016 | Time: 28:39 | My first 5K since last November’s first race back debacle. AND first race with new local Blacksburg bird Krysten. The race was at 8:30pm as the sun was going down (hence the name). I don’t normally run at night so this was a new experience. I had to make sure to eat dinner earlier than normal so food would be all digested come race time.
I got to the start about 15 minutes early. It was at the end of the summer solstice fest but I still found a place to park! I tried to warmup a little and was keeping an eye out for Krysten. We hadn’t met before in person but I was hoping she had received her singlet so she’d be easy to spot.
And as luck would have it, she and her boyfriend came around the corner- singlet on! Not too long after they appeared the race started so we spent the first mile trudging up Draper Rd and chatting. We ran together for about half the race but she was dealing with some knee issues so stopped to walk and we agreed to meet up at the finish.
I sped up and tried to blast through the downhills as I rounded the corner off the Huckleberry Trail and headed back up a hill. One more turn and then it was a huge downhill toward the finish. Thank you!! I was powering through trying to get closer to my 5K PR. Unfortunately I didn’t hit that but did have a good race, fourth best of my 5Ks. SO till lots of work to get my pace up and beat that PR but I felt good about my performance out there. Especially coming off a half marathon two weeks prior, and running camp the week before.
I cheered Krysten through the finish and we hung out for a bit talking about our backgrounds, our love for Oiselle and running and making hopeful plans to get together again soon.
SO happy to have another local bird!!
chasing every adventure 