Daytona 5K Race Recap

My first race of 2015 was a pretty unique one.  I ran the Daytona 5K on Saturday morning, which was run completely inside the Daytona International Speedway!  This isn't the first race I've run that incorporated the Speedway, as I ran the Daytona Beach Half Marathon last year which started and finished in the speedway.

My goal for this race was just to finish!  Being 30 weeks pregnant and about 17 pounds heavier than I normally am, I didn't know exactly how running would go.  Crossing the finish line without any problems was all I set my mind to for this race.

On the morning of, I seriously contemplated sitting this one out.  I was tired, the forecast was calling for rain, and I just wasn't sure I could do it.  After snoozing my alarm, I finally pulled myself out of bed and got myself out the door for the race.  I'm REALLY glad that I did, since all I wanted to do was just finish this race!

The logistics of getting to the start, checking in, and bag check were very smooth and easy.  The only pre-race problem I ran in to was using the restroom!  There was a really long line, and I was afraid that I wouldn't have time to make it to the starting line!  Fortunately, a speedway employee told us about another restroom, so a few of us ran over there before the line got too long.  Problem solved!

I headed to the start after that, and the rain had begun by then.  It was really coming down and got a little cold, so I started wishing I had a long-sleeved shirt!  Luckily, right as the race started, the race slowed and eventually stopped.

The course followed the track for the Rolex 24 race that would begin later that day (it's a 24-hour race for sports cars--pretty crazy!).  We started out on the main track, made some turns through the infield, then made it back to the main track and ran all the way around.

I started running a 3:1 run/walk interval for the first mile.  The whole pregnancy/weight gain thing was making it tough for me to run for 3 minutes, so I bumped my intervals down to 2:1.  I ran that pattern for the rest of the race, and it worked well for me!

While I really did enjoy the course, the problem was that I could always see how far from the finish I was.  To deal with this, I set mini-goals along to way to keep motivated and make the course seem smaller.  I'd find a landmark and tell myself to just make it there before my next interval started.  This method really pushed me to keep going, and before I knew it, I was at the end of the race!

My official finish time was 36:28, though above is what RunKeeper said (it did take me a little bit to turn the timer off).  Definitely my slowest 5K, but all things considered, I was really happy that I made it to the race AND finished with enough to push it at the end.

What a fun race!  After doing pretty well with this race, I think I'll sign up for another 5K in about 2 weeks.  After that, we'll see if there will be any other races before Baby Fish is born!

Question for you: What was your first race of 2015? If you haven't run one yet, what WILL be your first one?