New Years Day 5k

look! my sparkle skirt matches my shoes!

(or my shoes match my sparkle skirt, since they're newer)

I know I said I wasn't going to be posting again for a bit, but I can't help myself on this one.

Yesterday morning I ran a 5k hosted by the local running club. It was pretty low-key (and cost a lot less as a result): no shirts or fancy things. We parked in a farmer's field and ran an out-and-back course on country roads. It was fairly flat, with no steep hills- just some gentle hills that weren't too horrible.

There's two reasons I'm excited about this race:
1. I ran the entire course without stopping, which is not how I've been running races the last few years.
2. I finished in under 30 minutes! 29:36 to be exact. I haven't done that since high school. Maybe in college I managed it, but I don't have a record of those times, so I'm not sure. I know that in the last 5 or so years since I started running races again I haven't completed a 5k in under 30 minutes. This is super exciting for me :)

So why did I finally break the 30 minute barrier? I figure it's a combination of things:

• I have increased energy and am physically feeling better since going gluten free and free of all the other foods that cause problems for my body.
• Since I'm training for a half marathon, my mileage is higher than it's been for previous 5ks. It's not as high as I'd like, but I'm making progress. Saturday I did a long slow 9 mile run, and I think that made a huge difference for my endurance yesterday.
• I've lost 20 pounds- less weight being carried around is definitely easier on the body and exercise takes a bit less effort.
• GAPS is helping my body heal, and nutrients are getting absorbed much better, so I have fewer injuries, more energy, and am more healthy overall.

I did run this race hard- I haven't put that much effort into a race in a long time. Not pushing LMS in the jogger helped my speed and endurance :) I haven't done a lot of speed work so I used this race as a good last speed workout before the half marathon. I'd like to say it was a tempo run, but at this point, I'm not capable of maintaining a 9:30 pace for 13.1 miles. My last two half marathons were 2:37:27 (in 2012) and 2:29:46 (in 2008), and my goal for this one is under 2:30, which would be about an 11:30/mile pace (much more manageable than a 9:30 pace). A PR would be great, but I'm not stressing too much about it since there's a lot of variables I don't have control over that could affect how I feel physically that day.

How did  you start the New Year?