I did my second 5K ever this past weekend!
Two years removed from my first 5K, I set a goal to run two 5K’s this year – one in May and one in August.
My sweet hubby runs with me and I’m so glad! It’s really nice to do something together and while it isn’t really something he loves, he does it for me. He could have left me in the dust during our first 5K, I absolutely felt like death and can’t even remember how many times I made him stop. I truly had no idea what I was getting into! Our time was 41:21 during that 5K, and all things considered, that was decent for the number of times I had to slow down or stop.
Having some time to reflect on how defeated I felt back then, I knew I wanted to apply myself so much better this time around. My goal was sub 40 minutes.
I started training in January and while I have so much left to learn and dial in on, I truly feel it paid off! The only crummy thing is that we both got sick a month prior and it just lingered on and on, so no running during that time until last week before the 5K – kind of crazy!
Grab your coffee (I have my iced cappuccino) and tag along with me during this recap post for my 5K!
Thin Mint Sprint 5K
You might be wondering, did she pick this 5K because of the cookies? Yes, you’re right, I did! 😉
I really thought it sounded like a fun race though, I saw photos of other versions of the Thin Mint Sprint and it looked great.
I felt quite a bit of nerves the day before and even had nightmares about my last 5K. Neither of us slept well. I had the worst time trying to get my contacts in. I always have issues with my left eye, I’m not sure why, but Kyle helped me get it in. That was kooky enough, but then I struggled on the way there because I had to pee so badly and there really wasn’t a place to stop, so I thankfully survived until we got to the senior center! Being a woman is not fun sometimes, haha!
Kyle got us registered and took our goodie bags back to the car just before the race kicked off. We had a frost advisory of all things so it was pretty chilly, but I have to say I welcomed it since I tend to get overheated when I run (hopefully that will change someday!).
I stole some photos from the website once they posted them of our race and found this one where we were sort of in the distance. We were twinning! Kyle sneaked some pictures of the Ohio river as we were running along it too, it was beautiful!
He runs so much faster than me naturally, but he intentionally went slower at the start (when the photo above was taken) for me so I could conserve some energy. That did not last long though and I pushed to keep up with him off and on, but I’m so thankful because it kept me moving quicker! There were times I got out in front of him, and then he caught up to me. I would pick a road sign or even a person to catch up to, and then I’d allow myself to slow down a bit. It seemed to work well!
What sadly didn’t work well was tracking our time/distance on my phone. I started using the Strava app after Carrie from Curly Crafty Mom recommended it and I really love it! It has a record feature, but for whatever reason, when my phone went black (like when you leave your phone sitting for a few minutes and the screen turns off), it went off! So I couldn’t glance down at my phone like I had planned. Kyle pulled up Google Maps and was able to track how far we had left and where we needed to pick up our pace, he’s smart with that stuff unlike myself, haha.
A HUGE thanks to Carrie also for all the support and for recommending my running belt – it was amazing! It has two water bottles, so we each had one, and it has a neat zipper pocket to store stuff too. So handy and didn’t make me feel weighed down at all!
Can you tell I was excited? Kyle looks cool as a cucumber and I literally started tearing up as I was crossing the finish line because I realized I had my PR! 38:17 was so great compared to my original 41:21.
I immediately sat on the sidewalk after this photo. I gave it all I had at the very end once I saw the finish line. Kyle said he had to really push it to catch up with me. I knew I was going to be tired either way, so now was the time to just go!
They had after-the-race snacks inside the senior center. We both grabbed a banana, and I ate a small bag of birthday cake mini muffins (they were called celebration muffins on the bag!). They had all sorts of sweets, like donuts and cinnamon rolls, and a local business catered breakfast pizza too. As much as it would have been nice to eat all of the yummy things, I could only manage to eat the banana and muffins. I didn’t even eat until dinner time!
I did, however, talk Kyle into taking me for an iced ambrosia at our local coffee shop. It was my victory drink!
We got some fun goodies in our bags to take home. A box of Thin Mints, a cute t-shirt, pen and pad, and a lot of coupons for free appetizers and burgers from Texas Roadhouse and Longhorn Steakhouse. So neat!
We’ve already ate through one box of Thin Mints! I’m excited to wear this shirt soon, maybe to the 5K in August. We’ll see!
That’s a wrap on my Thin Mint Sprint 5K recap post, sweet friends! I hope you enjoyed tagging along. I’m really proud of how we finished this one and hope to train a little better for the next one in August! I’m calling it my revenge tour because the Run for Your Life 5K is the very same race we did a couple of years back, I’m determined to do so much better this time around!
Way to go! And hitting a PR! That’s awesome. What a great theme for a race!
Thank you SO much Kristen, I truly appreciate it! It was such a fun theme and so neat to be helping out the girl counts in that area too!
I wish my race shirts were as cute as your Thin Mints one!! I love looking at the photos they take during the race, but I always look so bad in them! Ha, ha! I need to learn to smile and not look like I’m dying. Hee, hee! I am so glad the running belt worked out, I love it! I really need to use my running vest too, tho. You really did amazing!!! Kyle too! I have ran a couple of races with Brian way back when we were dating and he was always hard to keep up with!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
I bet you still have cute shirts! This was a fun theme with the Thin Mints though, and believe me, I never even shared the photos from my OG race because I looked so horrible, haha! This time I didn’t care what I looked like because I was excited. I hope you love your running vest as you use it more, and appreciate you recommending this belt so so much, it’s awesome! It’s definitely fun that we got to do it together and love that you and Brian ran together then
too!
Aw this run seems fun! And the coffee looks good!
Jennifer
https://curatedbyjennifer.com
It really was neat and such a beautiful morning too, so that always helps! The coffee was like heaven at the time, haha, it was a fun treat!
Congrats on your PR Ashley! I would have signed up for the cookies too! So fun that your husband did it with you!
Jill – Doused in Pink
Aww, thank you tons my friend! I appreciate it so much and the cookies were definitely something to look forward to after the race, haha.
That’s so exciting! I can tell you worked so hard for it! Hope you keep the momentum going. Although I will say I still get overheated in hot/humid temps and I’ve been running for ages. Bummer. But thank goodness for fall and spring running temps!
Thank you tons, Laura! I really tried hard and hope to see some good results in August too. That is a bummer on the heat but it makes me happy to know that even seasoned runners face that too! I’m definitely for all the cooler weather when it comes to a race!
Kudos to you for training for this and for running this.Your hard work paid off, this is quite the accomplishment. I love thin mints and that coffee shop is so cute.
Allie of
http://www.allienyc.com
Thank you so much Allie, that means a lot! 🙂 I am really lucky to have my local coffee shop, it’s such a pretty place with yummy coffee.
I’m so happy for you Ashley! What a wonderful accomplishment! That is so good that Carrie helped you with her recommendation. From one great runner to another! That is so cool that there was a photo of you and your hubby during the race. Can’t wait to see what you do next!
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
Thank you so much my dear friend, you’re the best!! I was so fortunate for her advice, she always inspires me. It was really neat to run this race with Kyle and looking forward to sharing our August race. I’ll try to take some pictures of us before the race next time, haha!
Well done you for not only achieving a 5k, but achieving a PR! You should be so proud Ashley! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Oh, thank you so so much Lucy!! I appreciate your kind words, and I’m really excited with how it went and looking forward to August!
Congrats! That’s such an amazing achievement! 👏 You’re ready for another one! 😁
http://www.fashionradi.com
Aww, thank you tons Radi!! 🙂 It was exciting!
Good job 😀
Thank you so much, Kinga! 🙂
I am soooo proud of you! Love the victory pic at the end! You and Kyle look adorable! What a fun theme for a 5k too. I live thin mints! This is just awesome!
That means so much, my dear friend, thank you so so much!! 🙂 It was a really neat theme and August just won’t be the same since it’s not all about the cookies, haha!
What a wonderful journey you’ve shared—your dedication and the way you and Kyle support each other is truly inspiring. It’s lovely to see how far you’ve come, especially with that new personal best! Your story reminds me how important it is to keep going, no matter the challenges. I just shared a new travel post. I am excited for you to read it. Thank you. Happy weekend.
Melody, you are SO kind! Thank you so so much! It was a journey for sure all of this year, and I’m really hoping to see some more results in August. It’ll be here before I know it, haha. Thank you again my friend and I LOVED your travel post!!
This is amazing. As a former athlete, I totally understand … it’s been a while since I’ve run a 5K. It’s something you should be proud of. Love those shirts too! Congrats, lovely! <3
Madison
FASHION TALES
You are awesome Madison, thank you so much!! I appreciate you and your kind words. 🙂 I love the shirt, it’s so comfy and incredibly light (you know how a lot of times it’s a thicker cotton material? this one was refreshing!).
You did so well! congrats on smashing your goal and making a new personal best! You should be super proud, even if some things didn’t go well before the race and with the tracker on your phone, you still achieved your goal! I can’t run (I have a knee injury) but I admire those who do, 5k is a lot!
Thank you so much Mica, I appreciate it tons!! I am definitely so thankful it all went smoothly minus a couple of little quirks, I’m sure it’ll always be something, haha. I’m so sorry you have a knee injury, I hate that for you!
Wow what an exciting accomplishment! Congratulations! I loved reading about your experience! 🙂
https://melissakacar.com
Aww thank you so much Melissa, that makes me so happy you enjoyed following along in the post and I appreciate your kind words! 🙂
Huge congrats on crushing your goal and getting a new personal best in the Thin Mint Sprint 5K. That’s such an amazing improvement from your first race. Running with your hubby is so special, and it’s wonderful that he supports you even if it’s not his favorite thing. Enjoy that victory coffee and all your fun goodies! Best of luck with your “revenge tour” 5K in August! You’ve got this.
Oh, thank you so so much Benita, I appreciate it tons! I was so surprised we beat it by that much, but very grateful and it was really neat to be able to run with Kyle too! My coffee was perfect after all of that running, I was ready to flop in my chair, haha! Thank you very much on the August note too, we’ll soon see how it all works out! 🙂
You did so well. I loved following along on your Instagram stories. Well done my friend.
http://www.rsrue.blogspot.com
You are the absolute best Regine, thank you so much for the encouragement, I appreciate it more than I can say! 🙂
Congrats! You have every reason to be proud of making it to the finish line. I’m glad it was something you could do with your spouse.
Aww, thank you so much Crystal!! I so appreciate it and I was super excited crossing that finish line. I pushed it about as much as I could to make it there, haha. 🙂
That is great that your husband runs with you. I love that it gives you a good feeling to be part of such a fun race, and I bet it feels rewarding at the end.
https://www.bauchlefashion.com/2025/05/the-art-of-holding-yourself-together.html
Thanks so much, Heather! It was really neat and it was so exciting to reach that finish line, haha! Hope you have a wonderful day! 🙂
Yay, you PR’d! That’s so amazing, Ashley! You should be so proud of yourself. And I’m with you- totally would’ve chosen this race based on the cookies, haha.
-Ashley
Le Stylo Rouge
Aww, thank you SO much Ashley, I appreciate you!! 🙂 I was super excited and the cookies were the icing on the cake, haha!
Well done you, for achieving your goal! Though I run 5 times per week I never participate in races.
Aww, thank you so so much Nicole! That’s awesome that you run 5 days per week, that’s incredible, and I completely understand about the races. I think it’s just about doing what you enjoy most. 🙂