Double Race Report!

First up: Freedom 5k in Evergreen
Yay! Colorado's biggest 4th of July race! Super crazy hilly. The first mile is straight down. Then it's flat for just a bit, which after a screaming downhill FEELS like you're going uphill. Then it's kind of painfully uphill. Then downhill. Then up. Then down. Then up. Then down. The downhill sections were steep and, while the made it feel like my shins were going to crack, they really helped counter the slowness of the uphill sections. The first mile I was heading down at an average pace of 5:11, sometimes dipping down around 4:40 (which is literally terrifying), only to find myself struggling up a hill at nearly a 7:00 pace (and actually sometimes quite a bit slower than that). But I felt REALLY good. I won which was awesome, but even better was a really solid pr. My 5k times are very very weak so I've really wanted to see some improvement there. Looks like it's working!

Oh. Until today.

North Boulder 5k Crit
So, originally I thought this was on an actual track. I was not. I was a normal road race, just in 1k loops around a park. One of the sides was uphill (of course!). I thought I was going to have another big pr but I was so so so wrong. I ended up running my slowest 5k EVER. A full minute slower than my previous slowest 5k. What the hell is that about? I don't even know what to say. It was rough. But I got some money and flowers so that definitely helped soften the blow. I'm a little irritated but I'd still rather be out racing than anything else, so it was a good morning. And I got to meet some newer teammates and some cool guys from Fleet Feet.

Then I went to the Boulder 5150 Tri and watched those folks rock it. The weather was pretty perfect and everyone looked really strong - huge congrats to everyone! That sport wholly confuses me. I do NOT understand the vast majority of it but it was definitely fun to watch!