Kingwood Center 5k

FW and went to the Kingwood Center 5k last week.  Last year, FW ran a personal best at this race.  Her goal for this year's was to beat her time at the Flying Pig 5k last month.  She's been able to get outside more, but she's still getting into the swing of things.

First, we had to fight cicadas.  They're back with a vengeance after a 17 year absence.  And they're really not bright.  Seriously, they fly right into you no matter what you're doing.  They were all over the Kingwood Center, which isn't surprising with all the trees and flowers for them to munch on.

We started out near the local high school for a straightaway and turnaround in the parking lot.  FW surprised me by mixing in some light jogging during the first mile.  It was very warm out, but she's improved by running a lighter pace and lasting longer.  We then went down a grassy trail to hit the nearby bike path where we would stay for the majority of the race.  I could tell FW was feeling pretty good despite the up and down training.  Her first mile clocked in at 17:29.

The bike path portion went on for a while and, thankfully, the cicadas were not bothering us here.  We saw several people we knew heading back toward the Kingwood Center which was nice.  FW sprinkled in some more jogging and was still feeling good.  We then made our way around a long loop at North Lake Park.  The park is very pretty this time of year.  The jogging stopped momentarily, so I grabbed a water for FW at the water stop.  We then made our way back to the bike path and hit the second mile marker in 17:25.

FW was finally feeling the race during the third mile and had to slow down.  We walked most of the mile until we came back to the grassy trail leading us back to Kingwood.  There was one hill here but FW jogged up in a good effort.  We then stayed made our way into Kingwood for the downhill finish.  Our last mile was in 18:10 and FW finished her 5k in 55:48.  This was a bit faster than her effort at the Flying Pig, plus it was much hotter at this one.

FW is planning on running the Ontario Liberty 5k on July 4 which is coming up fast.  We're ramping up her training over the next week.

Next race: BW5k- Pleasant Hill Lake, Ohio