Surprises are AmazingCakes

This past weekend I participated in a local 5k in conjunction with the LLUMC PossAbilities sprint triathlon. And guess what? I WON. Came in 1st, female overall and 1st in my age/sex group. My only goal for the race was to PR, but if I  felt like it wasn't happening not to go all out because my goal 1/2 marathon race is this week. 

I finished the race in 22m:44s with an average pace of 7:20/mile, almost a full minute faster than my previous 5k record of 23:36. It is an amazing feeling heading towards the finish line knowing you are going to finish that distance faster than you have ever run it. It was a triple-layer amazingcake finding out that I won. The icing on the amazingcake was the group and community that participated with me. 

It wasn't a race I had been planning to run and if it was up to me never would have registered. If I wasn't part of  The Energy Lab community, Sunday's race would never have happened for me. Cindy, posted on our group's training page that she registered for the triathlon and invited others to join her. Others soon joined in and when I found out that you could register for the 5k run--I joined the pack. 

Jill Rooks (pictured above, bottom right), founder and owner of The Energy Lab, is the inspiration and success behind our group. She helps us find the motivation within ourselves and breakthough mental barriers. As you may know, I broke my kneecap in 2012 and used that setback to motivate myself to become the fittest I've ever been. No excuses. 

I've become stronger and faster-my race performances have demonstrated this. The proof is in the amazingcake. Key ingredients include the addition of speed/tempo workouts (training with a purpose) and my focus on cross-training and building core strength through the many classes and training options at The Energy Lab. It's the Lab itself that's the cake pan.  It's more than a place to workout. It's a community of supporters and inspiration. The sense of belonging that makes it special. It's a place where magic happens. Every day. And I'm no where close to being fully baked. I'm still rising. 

This week, I'm focused on Sunday's race with the momentum of this past weekend's victory. I'm ready. I've got this. And I'm tapering for REALS {meaning your won't see me at classes this week}.

(Note: Most everybody else in the first picture above is way more hardcore than me. All I did was run. Though they did semi-convince to try the triathlon next year.)