sarah friedlander

Imperfect perfectionist living life to its fullest.

  1. Nike Women’s 5K in Santiago, Chile

    Let me preface this blog post by saying one thing: I’ve never been a runner. If you would have told me 2 years ago that I would be running a 5K race I would have laughed hysterically at you. 2 years ago I was ~30lbs heavier, which might not sound like much but on my small frame (I’m only 5′ 2″) it’s a sizeable amount.

    I had an amazing personal trainer in California for a little over a year (Anton – this race was dedicated for you), and since living in Santiago have joined an awesome gym. I’ve been interested in participating in public races so when I saw the Nike Women’s 5K in Santiago, I hesitated for only a minute before convincing myself to sign up. My prep for this race was a bit of a disaster since my parents visited two weeks before and I didn’t make it to the gym that week. The week before the race I trained Monday, Wednesday and Saturday by running a 5K and 2-3.5K’s.

    The weather for the race was absolutely perfect – a bit cold with no sun in the sky (it was still early). A lot of people had told me that I would love the atmosphere during the race and that was definitely true. Everyone was so happy and excited – it was hard not to become sucked into the good mood!  I think the thing that surprised me the most was how fast the race went. When I run on a treadmill I enjoy it but the time seems to go a lot slower than on a paved road with tons of people cheering you on and yelling “¡¡Vamosss!! (Let’s Go!)”

    I finished with a great time (for me) and was really happy how it went. I know this will definitely not be my last race. I plan to do another 5K and then bump it up to 10K. Watch out world – running Sarah is here to stay!

    If you are curious what is taped to my legs it’s KT Tape!  I started using it about a year ago due to pretty bad shin splints.  Most sports stores carry sample packs of the product and I can’t recommend it enough!