Crazylegs 8K Recap

Saturday Workout:

Crazylegs 8K Race – 46:57

35 Minute Walk with Dogs – 1.76 miles

Yesterday, Nick and I ran the Crazlegs Classic 8K, and it was such a fun race!  It’s a 5ish mile run that starts on the Capital Square and ends inside Camp Randall Stadium. Right after the first mile, there was a huge hill.  The small town I live in is pretty flat so I haven’t done too much hill work in my training yet so that beast almost took me down. To be 100% honest, I soooo wanted to stop and walk.  As we were making our way up the hill though, people were dropping off like flies to walk.  I really didn’t want to be weak and let the hill beat me so I just kept running and powered through.  Once we got to the top of it, I realized it’s just a hill and all I needed to do was get over it…totally stole that off a girl’s shirt I saw near the starting line…

The weather was clear, sunny, and 65ish.  Miles 2-4 ran through the UW campus near the hospital so we were out in the beating sun the entire time.  It was extremely hot with no shade relief and I was dragging!  It’s been so cool here in Wisconsin so far that I’m used to running in temps of 40, not 60.  I’m glad it’s finally starting to warm up so I can train in the heat.

At mile 4, I perked up quite a bit because I knew I would be finished running in 10 minutes or less.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy running, but the mixture of heat and hills had me worn out!  I was more than ready to cross the finish so I could get my water and banana. 

Crossing the finish line was extremely epic.  The finish line was inside of the Badger’s football stadium.  We got to run in through one of the entrance tunnels and run across the field.  There were a ton of spectators and people that had already finished the race inside so it seem liked they had all turned out to watch me run.  Seeing all those people gave me the extra boost I needed to sprint across the finish line.  Nick stuck with me the entire time, and we crossed the finish line at exactly the same time.  I wish I could have beaten him, but at least he didn’t beat me!  He told me later he was having a tough time keeping up with me, but he didn’t want to be beaten by a girl…typical man.  

  

Overall, it was a tough race, but extremely fun.  It did help me learn that I need more training on hills and running in the heat.  It wasn’t even exactly hot out, and it’s only going to get hotter as summer approaches.  I also realized how important music can be while running.  Around the halfway point, Living on a Prayer came on my IPod and the whole, “We’re halfway there, whoooaaaoooh,” helped give a burst of energy.  Then right as I was cresting the last hill to run along the stadium before entering it, Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger came on, and along with the cheering crowd, powered me across the finish line. 

I wish I could have run this race a little bit faster, but I’m still proud of my time.  Since it was my first 8K distance, I still PR’ed!

I normally take a picture pre-race, or right after, but I forgot this time.  Oops!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!!