Kerzerslauf 5K

For the last month or so Katrina and I have been training for a 5K race. While I love to complain about running, I can't deny how good I feel when I'm working out on a regular basis. It's also great to have a workout buddy for mutual accountability and encouragement. Prior to the race, I ran 5K on a treadmill in 36 minutes. I was pretty pleased with my time, but wondered how much the hills would affect my time on race day (this would be a "cross country" style race!).

Katrina and I had to leave Kandern at 7:30 am on race day because our race was 1.5 hours away in Kerzers, Switzerland. In addition to that, we had to be there at least an hour early to check in and pick up our race packets. So bright and early we hopped in the car and began our adventure with Brian Regan as our soundtrack. Two and a half hours later (GPS took us on the scenic route!) we were pinning on our numbers and looking for the starting line.

Unfortunately, we both forgot our cameras, so the only pictures we took were at my house two hours later.

And as for the time, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I finished in 36:44. My goal was to finish my first 5K in under 40 minutes, but after I realized how hilly it was and had to walk more than I had in training, I wondered if that would be possible. The first half of the race was pretty torturous with hills and curvy trails, but thankfully the second half was downhill and open road (and lots more cheerleaders!) so I was able to make up for some lost time. Yay for meeting goals!