Race thought: Red, White & Boom! 5 K 2017 with Twin Cities In Motion

I signed up this Red, White & Boom! 5 K race right before my first trained 5 K race at Hot Chocolate Run Minneapolis for the purpose of training my run part for my sprint triathlon race in August. Here are my race thoughts!

Kind of...ready for the race!

Before the race: 
1. My running training included: long distance run, heart rate controlled run, and speed training. Each of which were ~33% of my training volume. My total running distance went down to half for the month of June (~6.3 mile/week) due to my schedule and some triathlon specific trainings.
2. I also tried my best to incorporate strength training. For leg and upper body training, it's once a week each on average.

On the race day:
-The event ⭐⭐⭐⭐
1. Easy to park (and FREE) in the morning and very close to the start line
2. Very early morning race 😪 (6:30 am for half marathon)
3. Good running course (run on the road, not side walk)
4. A bunch of food choices after the finish line (better than Hot Chocolate Run!!): banana, chips, milk, protein bars, nut bars, water, and hot dogs! 😋😋😋
5. Good music after 8 am, yard game available in the park 

-My run: New PR: 27:30 (was 27:53 in April)
1. I was AWAKE starting at 4 am, having only 1.5 h of deep sleep. Woke up at 5 am
2. Took a pain killer to prevent mid-cycle ab pain as I felt it when I woke up
3. Temperature and humidity was high; I felt comfortable in my first mile, but started to feel my heart rate at mile 2 💓💓💓. I had to get water from aid station to try to cool down and slow down, but it didn't seem very helpful that day. 
4. I could feel a bit of my ab pain starting at about ~2.6 mile. I tried my best to keep at a moderate pace. 👊👌
5. Wasn't able to speed up until the last 0.12 mile. 
6. My heart rate during the race turned out to be insanely high --> The highest of a 5 K run I have ever experienced.

My insanely high heart rate 😱

Moving forward:
1. My next race is a Sprint Triathlon with YWCA Minneapolis. I have goals for each of the three sports. For run, I want to start with increasing my running volume as I want to lower my heart rate.
2. Will continue to consciously (and make explicit plans) for strength training.
3. My next 5 K race is on September 1st. My goal is to hit another PR, preferably sub 27 min.