Charlie Brown Christmas Virtual 5k

Mom signed us up for this one. It needed to be done by December 31st. I knew running it a week after taking a week off with the flu wasn't probably going to go well, but I decided to go for it with low expectations. I did a short speedwork out less than a week before and it was a struggle so I didn't expect this to be fun. I ran a virtual race around Thanksgiving right after having a sinus infection that went way better than I expected. I was prepared for this to be considerably slower and didn't think it was likely I'd be under 22 minutes, although I always love sneaking under. I ran a 2 mile warm up and did 3 strides at the end to get my legs ready. The first 2 were at 7:20 pace which I figured was probably what I'd do the 5k in. Then my last stride was 6:50 pace and felt the same as the first couple.

Everyone wearing their race shirts on New Year's Eve.

I went through the first mile in 6:54 which was a lot faster than I was expecting. My Garmin was really struggling with my current pace. I'd look down and it would say 6:20 pace. Then I'd look down a bit later and it would say 7:20 so I quickly realized I wasn't going to be able to count on it to help me know how I was doing. I didn't feel like I slowed down that much in the 2nd mile but went through it in 7:07. I was bummed I was so much over 7 for that mile but I also had a small hill and lots of small turns plus a turn around in that mile, so that slowed me down a bit. My goal for the last mile was to get back under 7:00 and I did it with a 6:56 last mile! I had to run uphill for my last 0.1 so I was pleased to run it in 6:54 pace. My finishing time was 21:44. I was shocked it went as well as it did and I felt really good during it. I felt like I could have run faster, but I just couldn't push down anymore. I was wheezing a bit as I ran which showed I wasn't quite fully recovered. When I looked at my stats later, I saw my heart rate was lower than that last virtual 5k I did which I figured showed I wasn't quite able to push as much as I did last time. Either way, I was pleased I was able to run a sub-22 so soon after having the flu. That gave me hope that my recovery from the flu this time won't be the prolonged nearly 2 year ordeal it was after having it in 2020!