Boston Athletic Association 5K

On Saturday, I participated in the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) 5K in downtown Boston. It was a beautiful day – the sun was shining and the temperature was in the mid-40’s.

I was so excited for this race because it is part of the B.A.A. Distance Medley. The Distance Medley consists of a 5K, a 10K in July, and a half marathon in October. I am already registered for the 10K, and am hoping my running schedule will allow for the half marathon in October.

There were thousands and thousands of runners in the 5K. The Boston Marathon is on Monday, so downtown was flooded with 5K runners, spectators, and marathoners who have flown in for the marathon. The energy level was sky high – tons and tons of people cheering, and just so much spirit overall. I had a smile on my face the whole run.

Before the race on the Boston Common

We started in the Boston Common and the race took us west down Commonwealth Avenue. The roads were completely closed off so it was so fun to run through them. We pretty much did a big loop, and it was mainly flat with just a couple of gentle rolling hills.

As we were approaching mile 3, we crossed the Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street. I thought about all of the people who were affected by the 2013 attacks and pushed my pace harder for the rest of the race.

I told myself to go for it during this run. A 5K is only 3.1 miles, so I thought of it as a tempo run (a tempo run is when you run at a “comfortably hard” pace). My goal pace was 8:00-8:15 min/mile, but my pace ended up being 7:59! Originally, I miscalculated my pace (I thought it was 8:13), but the course ended up being 3.19 miles so my pace went down. I am very proud of holding a sub 8:00 min/mile pace and this is proof that my dedication to training to qualify for the Boston Marathon is paying off.

On cloud nine about my sub 8:00 min pace!

Like always, Kyle woke up super early to come support me. He is the best!

I am so excited about my Boston gear – it gives me so much motivation to continue chasing my dreams. On Monday we are off to watch the marathon. Forecast is blue sky and 70 degrees!

I hope you’re all having a nice weekend and have been able to get outside to enjoy the sun!