Happy Monday lovelies! I hope you all had a great weekend. I did. This past weekend, I ran another 5k – the Triton 5k. This race is in its 21st year running and is held by the University of California, San Diego. Most participants are students or have some affiliation with the campus and dogs are welcome on this course (at least, that’s what I assumed based on all the pups I saw during the race). This was my second year running the race and again I had a pretty fun time running around a campus I’ve spent over 10 years at. 
The Details
Price – For a 5k, this race is pretty affordable. If you are a student, it costs $15. Luckily, I still fall under this category, but next year, I won’t be so lucky.
Time – 9 am
Course – The race starts at the most northern part of UCSD. There is a nice loop to help corral the participants. The course takes you across the campus and loops you back to the track and field. The course, unfortunately, is nothing too scenic and I felt a little cheated to not be able to run through the more beautiful parts of the campus. I will say though, in the campus’ defense, that there is a LOT of construction going on and so there aren’t too many paths that they could have taken to make the 5k. It could also be that I’m used to running longer distances and have more chances for better views.
Swag – For the $15, I get a nice T-shirt, a reusable bag, and a piece of fruit. There is no medal, which is fine because I already have quite a few. (Don’t get me wrong. If I’m running a half, I want a medal. A half is no easy feat. LOL).
How it went down – Since this race started at 9 am, I was able to get more sleep than usual. HOORAY! My friend picked me up and off we went to the northern part of campus. I got into my corral and off we went. Despite the runners being released in waves, there was still quite a bit of bottlenecking at the beginning. With all the adrenaline I have at the beginning of a race, it’s actually kind of nice to have people physically be in your way. It makes you slow down so you don’t burn out as quickly. I also kind of like having to weave around runners. I take much shorter steps and for some reason, I always feel like an airplane avoiding collisions. The first mile sped by – 7:26 min/mile. I was running on an injured hamstring and even though I knew I should have slowed down, I just couldn’t. Something about my competitiveness kicked in and I pumped my arms and finished the second mile in 7:47. That’s when both of my legs started to give in. At that point, I decided to slow down and take deeper breaths. I was super winded, but was able to finish with a time I’m pretty proud of. When I first ran this race 3 years ago, I ran it in 24:36. This year, I ran it in 23:59. That’s only 12 seconds slower than last week. By golly, I think I’ll say it. I’m improving as a runner! YAY! 🙂
How was your weekend? Did you do any fun things? I’d love to hear about them.
A Girl on a Search for Adventure 