Author: teresamunoz91

I ran my third 5k a few weeks ago, on October 29 in Whittier. This was by far the toughest 5k I ran out of all three. Unlike the other two 5k races I ran, this one was 1.5 miles of uphill running. That was something I had not trained for. I made the mistake of not looking at videos from previous years. If i had, then I would not have been caught offguard about the hills. I struggled a lot with this race. My official time was 30.06 mins. I was disappointed at first. However, I looked at how I did overall compared to other runners and I didn’t do as badly as I thought. My family was unable to go to this race because my younger sister had a soccer game at the same time as my race.

Although I didnt have my family there cheering me on, I still had a great experience. There was so many people there, both racing and watching. In fact, there was about 1000+ people in the race! More on the sidelines. I wore a Supergirl shirt since it was Halloween weekend. Heard a lot of spectators shouting “You can do it Supergirl!” It was cool lol Can;t wait to go back next year.

My next 5k will also be uphill. I have been training for that. The one is so close to my home. I hope my family can be there this time and I hope that I can do better. Aiming for 27 minutes!

For many years, I wanted to run but never felt motivated. A few months ago, I decided to sign up for the Alhambra Pumpkin Race 5k. 

I started training in late July. But because of the hot weather and my laziness, I didn’t take my training seriously until late August, early September. Because I waited so long, I didn’t think I was ready for the race. I thought I would come in last place or take way too long to finish, like 45+ minutes.

When race day came, I was so nervous! My sister told me the day before that my family was going to see me. I was in shock! Couldn’t believe they would actually wake up early to support me and cheer me on. I thought they might change their minds because they love sleeping in. That day, they all woke up at 540 am just for me. It was a great feeling crossing the finishing line and seeing them there, cheering me on.

I ended up in 61st place, with a time of 27.17 minutes. My fastest 3 miles ever! There were 390 people in total, so by coming in 61st place, I was in the top 15%. Not bad for my first 5k race. I have another 5k race on Saturday October 15. This one is closer to my home so I can wake up later. I feel like I am more prepared and I am hoping to do a little better this time around. Maybe get 26 minutes.