Petal to the Medal 5K Recap

On Saturday, I ran my first Petal to the Medal 5K. I missed this race last year and I'm so glad I had a chance to run in this time. It was a trail race which is my absolute favorite kind of race. It wound throughout a state park which was beautiful.

The weather was perfect Saturday morning. When we got there, I did a warm up run of a little over half a mile. I don't always warm up, but I can tell when I do. Our run club also took a picture before the race.

When it was time to go, we lined up and readied our watches. My husband gave me The Little Red Book on Running for Christmas and I've been putting many of the tips to practice, one being to get a good start. I've really started pushing my start which in turn has helped me. I could tell it did big time in this race.

Unfortunately, my Garmin broke. I noticed a problem with it last Saturday when it wouldn't turn off after the race, but I was hoping that it was just a fluke. It picked up the signal fine and started, but the timer didn't start and after 2-3 minutes, it just turned off. I knew my pace for those first few minutes had me running a little less than a 6 minute mile, so I was happy with that and just enjoyed the race.

My favorite part of the course was when it went into the woods. I think because I grew up in the country and running trails, I really appreciate these races. I miss running on dirt roads and around fields some days.

I saw my husband and the 3 mile mark when I turned off of the trail and back onto the main road that goes through the park.

I finished the race in 20:29 (6:36 pace). I was really happy with my result. I was less than 20 seconds slower than my last road race and this was on a trail. I finished as the first female and fourth overall. It was a great race!