I cannot thank Susan enough for staying with me today and just being encouraging at the times that I needed it most. Let's just be real, it is easier to slow down a bit when you don't have someone by your side pushing you. Thank you again, Susan!
After a great day of expo fun, it was time to get ready for the Pittsburgh 5K. This race it is the first race of a great two days of racing in Pittsburgh and it is also the first part of the Steel Challenge for a lot of runners running in Sunday's races as well. The 5K isn't a crazy huge race, but it is still a big race with over 3,000 participants. The race starts at PNC Park, so we arrived fairly early to have time to park at Heinz Field and eat some breakfast before heading over to the race start area. Before heading over to the start line, I met up with some of my Pittsburgh ohana. I finally got to meet Gloria live and in person this weekend - she is so sweet! I typically text my "big brother" Jeff after a lot of my races since he lives in Pittsburgh, but today I got to have my pre and post-race chat live! Obviously I was super excited about this. While it was a bit different not having my local running friends there, my Pittsburgh peeps really made me feel at home this weekend. The start line was ready to go, all we needed was 8am to come around! We all said our "have a great race" to each other. Random note - I never tell someone "good luck" on a race, you worked hard to get here - no luck is needed. I got into the starting area and as I was making my way to my pace group, I ran into a fellow INKnBURN Ambassador, Susan. We chatted a bit while waiting for the start which calmed my nerves (yes, I still get pre-race butterflies after all the races I have ran). Susan is running the Steel Challenge as well, except she is being a total rockstar and taking on the marathon tomorrow! BOOM! She wanted to take it easy so she tagged along with me. Hey, I am always down for company so I was excited to have her join me for 3.1 miles. After a slight delayed start (just a few minutes) due to a delay in road closures, we were on our way! The route takes you through the North Shore and North Side area, and through Allegheny Commons Park for the two miles or so of the course. There were a few points where things got a little congested, but it wasn't too bad. We made our way through North Shore and North Side and were making our way back towards the finish! I realized when we hit the mile two marker that I was possibly going to PR - I just couldn't fizzle out in that final mile (like I tend to do). To be honest, I was shocked. (1) PR was not my goal - I wanted to run about a minute slower than my PR, but just ran on feel (2) I typically run better on hilly courses for some dumb reason. This course was pretty mild in hills (especially compared to Atlanta races). About mile 2.5 we hit the only bridge of the 5K - the Andy Warhol Bridge. At this point my calves were on FIRE! Susan did such an amazing job of keeping me motivated and encouraging me with comments like "you are awesome" and "you got this." We hit the mile three marker and I knew I was was about to blow my 5K PR out of the water. With crowds cheering us in during that final stretch, I knew I had no choice but to finish strong. I laid it out there and just went. We crossed the finish line with a new PR for me by over 30 seconds! Totally not the intention of today's race, but I will certainly take it. Jeff was right at the finisher's area waiting for me to come in. I don't remember much at this point except running towards him like a crazy lady squealing and jumping up and down. Jeff presented me with my finisher's medal and the 5K was done! I cannot thank Susan enough for staying with me today and just being encouraging at the times that I needed it most. Let's just be real, it is easier to slow down a bit when you don't have someone by your side pushing you. Thank you again, Susan! After collecting all of our runners in the finish area, we snapped a few selfies and such before going our separate ways this morning. Whether your goal was racing it, a shakeout run for tomorrow's race, or just having fun, I think we all had a great time this morning. We headed over to Point State Park to enjoy some post race festivities. There were a lot of vendors which is always great to see. My eyes were most excited to see a booth handing out cotton candy - sugar on a stick?!?! Yes, please. Hey, I earned it. I haven't had cotton candy in probably 10+ years so it obviously gave me a total sugar rush. The post-race activity that we were probably the most excited for was Eat'n Park's decorate your own Smiley Cookie booth. This was a treat for us since we don't have Eat'n Park at home, plus decorating your own cookie is always fun. Obviously, I loved this morning because I PR'ed, but even if I didn't I would have still said that this was an absolutely perfect way to start the day. It was a great race, great course, and a fun time with family and friends. Thank you again to UPMC Health Plan/UPMC Sports Medicine Pittsburgh for sponsoring the race and the wonderful Pittsburgh Marathon staff, volunteers, and emergency personnel for making this morning possible. Question of the Day: Does running with a friend by your side help push you a bit harder?
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BrandiI love to run and most importantly I love to have FUN while I run....I am the "Funner Runner" Feedspot's Top 100 Running Blogs
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