Losing It @ 30-something: The Great Zoo Stampede 5K

I asked some random guy to take my photo next to the Zoo sign!

I woke up early this morning to drive to Waco for The Great Zoo Stampede 5K at the Cameron Park Zoo. They actually had 3 distances to choose from - 1 mile, 5K and 10K. The 1 milers and 10Kers started before the 5Kers, so I had lots of time to pace and wait. I should have warmed up like I see all those "real" runners do. Normally when I wog, even with Gus, I tend to walk the first 1/2 mile as a warm-up. I should have done that this morning. Instead, I spent the first 1/2 mile of the race "warming up." Next time, I need to remind myself not to worry about what people might think (especially since I don't know any of them) and just do what I know will work for me.

The first 1/2 mile or so was inside the zoo, then we did an out and back plus a loop along the Brazos River, then back up the hill to the zoo entrance.

Since it was my first 5K with my Garmin Forerunner, I set it to lap every 0.25 miles and made it a goal to keep all my lap paces under 15 minutes/mile because I knew that if I did that, I would beat my old PR. I kept 9 of the 13 laps under 15:00! 2 of those that were more than 15 were the first 1/2 mile. My overall pace was 14:38!

Loving the Garmin Forerunner 110! And yep, that's Gus in the background.

I felt good the whole time - I started out near the back of the pack which helped because I didn't get passed much. I got a little worried at one point when I got to a sign that said 10K because I was afraid I missed a turn somewhere. Luckily, it was at a point where the 2 distances overlapped.

I've never been in a race that had the shoe timing chips!

Neon yellow and purple - color theme for today!

New PR - 45:46.6

FINISHED!

After the 5K, I decided to go check out the Zoo because I've heard great things about it. It's a pretty nice little zoo, considering the fact that Waco is not a big city.