Every race has its unique reasons for being challenging. The half marathon. The marathon. The half IRONMAN. The IRONMAN. Each race distance presents us with a distinctive test of physical and mental strength. Each one pushes our limits and changes us.

And then there is the 5K.

I haven’t run a 5K in 4 years – well, that is, until this past weekend. Although you won’t see many people driving around with a 3.1 sticker on the back of their car, don’t let the strong but mighty 5K fool you. It too presents a unique challenge. It’s like your hardest speed workout and tempo run decided to get married and then torture you. It’s short enough so that you’re “almost there” the entire race, but it pushes your lungs and legs to their breaking point. Just when you think you’re about to die, it’s over. Whew.

On Saturday, I ran the Run for Justice 5K – a local Atlanta race with about 800 runners. Mr. rUnladylike and I spontaneously decided to run this race since it’s close to where we live and we could show up 30 minutes before the race start. Luckily for me, I had no idea how hilly this race was until I was on the course.

I didn’t really have any expectations for this race. I had only worked out 3 times since my Beach2Battleship Half Iron Triathlon 2 weeks ago and had run 7 miles the day before. My goal was to keep my pace between 7:15 and 7:25 per mile and have fun.

I ended up winning first female overall and running a PR of 22:09 (7:05 average).

What!?!?!

Yes, you heard right. I won the race. Nothing like a small neighborhood 5K to boost your confidence.

Mr. rUnladylike and I left the house about 40 minutes before the race start. We parked a half mile away from the start line and jogged to the starting area for our warm up. We picked up our numbers and then did some dynamic stretching.

The race conditions were perfect: 45 degrees and sunny.

Although the race was supposed to start at 9 a.m., the gun didn’t end up going off until around 9:20 a.m. I had worn arm warmers and a long sleeve but decided to get rid of them both and run in just my tank top and shorts with ear warmers and gloves. The late start made for 20 very cold minutes.

We made our way up to the very front of the start line. With many local 5K and 10K races, the beginning of the route tends to be very narrow. If you’re up toward the front, you can prevent a very slow first mile and a lot of wasted energy dodging and weaving in the crowd.

Mile 1 contained the first big hill. And when I say big, I mean the steepest hill I’ve ever encountered during a race. It was about 100 or so meters long and very steep.  Mile 2 was a good mixture of rolling hills with both some ups and downs. Mile 3 was predominantly uphill, with a slight gradual climb all the way to the finish.

There are 2 things I am very proud of about this race:

1. My pacing was consistent. My miles were 7:08, 7:09 and 7:13 (hilliest mile), with the last 0.1 at a 5:45/mile pace. And, no one passed me.

2. Mentally, I am in the best place I have ever been. I used to think I was terrible at running hills. I can’t run hills, so I will avoid them. On Saturday, I told myself that I could do this. That I was strong. I knew there were only a few women who had started right at the front and I tried to pick them off one by one. The last woman between the finish line and me I passed just 50 yards before the finish. I never gave up in this race. I was determined to do the very best I could and stay strong in my head.

Mr. rUnladylike also ran a PR of 21:00. He is gunning for a sub-20-minute 5K, which I know he will get before the year is over.

All in all, it was a fun way to kick off the weekend.

What is your favorite race distance? Do you enjoy running 5Ks? Why or why not.