So one of the only things I enjoy about running is doing races. Because just running day to day is all fine and good for your health but doing races makes it worth all your hard work plus it's FUN! If you've never been to a race before you'd be surprised ... there really is a fun element to it with food, prizes, music, etc. We've done several 5K races and I hope to train for a 10K this summer, plus I've always wanted to do one of those adventure races like the Diva Dash ... so we'll see, maybe soon!
Anyway, back in February I began running with a friend {Christina} because she was training for a half marathon and wanted a partner. I told her right from the start I wasn't interested in doing the half, but that I would gladly run with her 2 days a week on her 'short' runs. So for the last 12 weeks we've gone 2x per week doing either 2, 3 or 4 miles each time {ONE time I ran 5 with her - my longest ever}. There have only been a few times we've missed - either because I couldn't make it or she couldn't, but otherwise we've been totally consistent and I've seen a huge improvement in my running since we started. It's been such an encouragement to have a great partner there to cheer me on even on days when I wanted to quit or not do it at all.
Anyway, Christina and her husband had already signed up for their half marathon and then a couple weeks ago Bob and I started talking about maybe going up to the race too - there was a 5k and a 10k, plus the half ... so we knew we could run the 5k plus we'd get to see our friends run their half and I knew I wanted to cheer my running partner on as she crossed the finish line.
The race was held in Simsbury where my brother in law and sister in law live - we talked about spending the night at their house so we wouldn't have to get up too early but ended up at the last minute deciding to stay home. I think it worked for the best as I slept better in my own bed. Anyway, we got up at 5am and were in the car by 5:15 ... we grabbed a coffee and a wake-up wrap from Dunkin' Donuts and hit the road! It took a little over an hour to get there, we parked and went to get our race bibs and shirts. There was such a great air of excitement and it was a beautiful morning!
They had port-o-potties and thankfully no lines so we used them before heading back to our car ... we wanted to leave our race shirts in the car and just get situated with everything we needed. We were parked about a half mile away so walking back and forth a couple times was a great little 'warm-up' for the race.
We texted our friends to see if they had arrived and headed back to the check in area ... we walked around a bit, checked out the race map and then found our friends ... in the now HUGE lines for port-o-potties ... ugh ... the bad thing was we both felt like we wanted to go again before the race started but did NOT feel like waiting in HUGE lines ... however we decided to wait anyway and honestly it was a good decision - you never want to be on the race course and needing to go to the bathroom! Plus, I really HATE that gurgly feeling when I have too much liquid in my stomach that is just bouncing around as I run! LOL
As we waited in line we had the guys take a couple pictures of us ... SOOOOO thankful for my running buddy!!!
After that it was almost time to start lining up at the starting line so we started heading that way ... we had someone take a group photo of us before we gave hugs and said goodbye and good luck to our friends ... we knew it wouldn't take us long for the 5k but that we wouldn't see them again for a couple hours.
The 10K had started at 7:30am ... but the 5K and Half started just a minute apart from each other at 7:45 and 7:46 ... the half started first and as I was lined up waiting for our starting gun they ran past us and our whole crowd began clapping and cheering for them ... I got a little choked up thinking of my friends beginning this race they had trained SO hard for! But no time for tears because just a minute later our starting gun went off and we had to RUN! I pressed the start on my music and got going! It took me 20 seconds just to cross the starting line because there were so many people ...
I thought things were going well and my only real issue was that I HATED the play list I had chosen {trust me you don't even wanna know but it was bad} ... but when I passed the one mile marker it said 10:30 and I was like 'what?! that's so slow!' so I knew I really needed to step it up a lot! I had a goal of wanting to finish under 30 minutes and knew at that pace it wasn't going to happen. So I tried to pick up my pace just a bit. It was hard, it was SUPER hot and humid out that day and my body is mostly used to running in the cold weather. I passed the 2 mile marker at exactly 20 minutes and knew that thankfully I had gained some time ...
When I had about a half mile left a lady on the sidelines yelled out 24: {something something} and I was like 'OK Kathy, you can do this, you still have time to get under 30 minutes but you really need to haul!' ... when I turned the final corner and saw all the people cheering on the sidelines I just started booking it ... when I saw the time clock hit 29:45 as I got closer I was telling myself to hurry up and get over the finish line before it hit 30:00 .... I was SO thankful when I crossed that finish line! They handed me a water and a medal - I have never gotten a medal at a 5k race before and was SO excited that every finisher got one! I saw Bob and we sat down and we were POURING sweat!! I snapped this photo right away ... it was such a great feeling!
We decided to walk around because we knew we had a while to wait until our friends would finish. We walked over to the park where they had a live Jimmy Buffet cover band playing, lots of tents with freebies and food. We got some water bottles and filled them up with Gatorade and water because we just kept pouring sweat for about a half hour. They had computers where you could look up your time and we pulled up our bib numbers .... here is mine:
Three things I was shocked about -
1. my time!!! I was excited to see I was under 30 minutes once they accounted for my passing the start line 20 seconds late. I met my goal - SUPER stoked about that!
2. my bib number ... I never even looked at it before that moment and about died when I saw the 666 ... oh my if I had only known I probably would have thought it was cursed - kinda glad I didn't know until that moment! LOL
3. my place! I couldn't believe I got THIRD place in my category! WAHOOO!! 3rd out of 17 women isn't bad ... the last race I did I was 12 out of 19!
Do you know what Athena is?? It means you're a woman over 150 pounds - yep, sometimes it pays to be a big girl ... cause if I was under 150 I would NOT have gotten 3rd place for my age group!! My daughter didn't know what Athena was but has learned all about Greek mythology this year in school so she said 'oh Athena is the Greek goddess of beauty and wisdom!' ... COOL, I'll take that! =)
Here are my hubby's stats:
He got SECOND place in his category!!! {Clydesdale is much like the Athena but for men over 200 pounds} He had a GREAT pace and a fantastic time {his fastest time as an adult} ... I would LOVE to get under 27 minutes someday!
We asked someone to take a photo of us ... can you see the small sliver of bright blue on the right side of his shirtsleeve? That's the color it's supposed to be, the rest of it is SOAKED in sweat! I didn't even want to put my arm around him for the picture! LOL {Yes my face gets SUPER red when I exercise, especially when it's hot out.}
Since we had both gotten in the top 3 for our categories we knew we'd be getting awards so we spent some time just walking around. We took some pictures, got some food, listened to the music, sat and relaxed ...
They had this cute photo booth so we got our pictures taken ... we were not really prepared for the camera so the pics look kinda goofy! LOL
The awards ceremony for the 5k and 10k started and they read through the names pretty quickly. You just had to go up front and receive your prize. We both got cool running hats for a prize - mine says 'FAST' on the side and his says 'FASTER' - the 1st place winner got one that said 'FASTEST' - cute, huh?
After the awards for the 5k we headed straight to the finish line again, it had already been about 2 hours and many of the half marathon racers were already arriving at the finish. There was such a neat atmosphere - TONS of people lining the roads just shouting and cheering and ringing load cowbells - it's such a neat thing to be a part of!
I wanted to capture our friends crossing the finish line but had no idea when to expect them. We watched for a while and I began to panic thinking maybe we had missed seeing them. So I stood up on top of this wood railing so I could see above the crowd and watched from there for a bit. I also kept scanning the crowd looking for Christina's bright top and shorts but couldn't see her anywhere. Then all of the sudden I spotted her racing towards the finish line and I was so full of pride!! I got these pictures as she crossed ... {she is in the bright yellow top and pink shorts}
I jumped down off my post to run over and hug her and congratulate her. She was exhausted and needing water so I said I would go take pics of her hubby finishing while she cooled down a bit ... I went back to my spot on top of the wood railing and I was glad I didn't dawdle because just around 4 minutes later David was coming up the road! I got these photos as he crossed the finish line {he had the white top and black shorts}
I went back to greet them both and we took some photos of their amazing accomplishment! SO proud!!!! I even got a little teary thinking of how hard they've worked and all they put into doing this.
We all went back to the park area again, they got some food and freebies and we hung out a bit. They spent some time just resting and cooling down. We took some more pictures and talked and just enjoyed the beautiful day.
Shortly after that we left to head home ... we were tired and sweaty and had been gone all morning. When I got home I laid out all my race goodies and took this picture. All in all it was a GREAT experience and we were so thankful to share it with our friends!
