Three Rivers Art Festival 5k

So all last week I barely got any sleep. I had a couple of functions at night, sometimes I worked, and sometimes I was just up reading or watching TV. I usually get by on fairly little sleep, but generally I have at least a night or two a week where I can try to get a full 8 hours. Last week I think I did the entire week with around 6 per night. Ugh. That is too little for me, and by the weekend I was dragging.

After my 14 miles on Friday, I went out with girls from work for some wine tasting and to check out a new wine bar. It was fun and it wasn't a late night. I headed home around 11, and should have gone straight to bed. Instead I ate a crunchwrap supreme my husband had leftover from taco bell. :( Those things have to have about 800 calories...so depressing to undo all the calorie burning I did on my run! I stayed up reading and probably didn't go to bed until 1...then had to be up at 7:30 to get ready for a a Saturday meeting at work before having to work a double.

I got home from work at 10:30 or so, but again, probably didn't make it to bed until 1. So when the alarm went off at 7:20 for my 5k, let's just say it took EVERY OUNCE of will power I had to get up and head out. Especially since it was like 30 degrees! That is the coldest it has been here yet this year. I hit the gas station for some coffee since my husband broke the carafe to our coffeemaker the day before, and headed over to the art festival.

I didn't know exactly where it was, and had a couple of moments of panic trying to find it and having to go to the bathroom REALLY bad. Luckily I came across it eventually, and ran over to registration. I registered, hit the disgusting Port-o-Potty, and was at the line ready to go freezing my butt off.

And hoping for under 25 minutes. I thought I should have a shot; at the Crescent City Classic 5k a couple of weeks ago I hadn't given it my all, and extrapolating my 23:55 time for 2.95 miles to what it could have been for a true 5k I think it would have been just over....So I thought I could do it. But as soon as I started I knew this wasn't going to happen. It was tooo cold. I couldn't breathe, my lungs were aching and felt frozen, and there were hills! I should have remembered that from a 5k I did in this part of town last spring, but I had forgotten. Granted when I say 'hills' that needs to be taken with a grain of salt, because there aren't REALLY any SERIOUS hills in Louisiana, but there was just enough rolling up and down (mostly up on the way back!) that I knew my shot at under 25 was blown.

I finished in 25:48, a big disappointment, but I guess the circumstances predicted it. It was the first 5k in ages, though, where I didn't PR, so I wasn't happy about it. With my mileage increasing I figured I would only get faster at these short distances. To be fair, though, I don't do that much speed work so I don't know why I would expect that I should be fast.

Anyway, I did win my age group! And a door prize! I have been lucky lately, I'm telling you! I swear, powerball here I come...