It’s a gusty, rainy Monday morning here in Massachusetts, thanks to Hurricane Sandy. Anyone else have the “Grease” soundtrack stuck in their head? Or is that just me?
While we still have power, I wanted to share a slightly belated recap of the Ladybug 5K race in Franklin that I ran on Saturday. This was a special race for me because it was the first time Buddy and I were doing a race together! The race organizers planned a Kids Fun Run just before the 5K and Buddy eagerly lined up with the other 5- and 6-year-olds.
My son is a FAST runner – I think it’s because he has a strong need to always finish first. But stamina, on the other hand, is something he still needs to work on. He got a terrific start and was hanging with “the leaders” but totally lost it the second half of the race. He looked so exhausted, poor guy. But I was so proud – he didn’t stop, didn’t walk, and kept chugging along. And he was so excited to get his finisher’s medal!
Then it was Mom’s turn.
Oy.
I’d been battling a combination of flu and head cold symptoms since Wednesday (I still feel pretty lousy) but was feeling particularly crappy that morning. But I knew this was going to be my last race of the season, and Buddy was so excited about the kids race, so I mustered up the energy (in addition to drinking a LOT of coffee and gathering lots of tissues) and got myself out the door.
Because I am an admitted “race results stalker,” I knew this was a fast course; the top female finishers (all in my age group, sigh) finished in under 23 minutes. So that, combined with the fact that I felt awful, tempered my expectations for this race, and I set out to finish somewhere in the 26 minute range – slower than my 5K PR last month, but still pretty good.
Those 2011 results were no fluke; there were some serious runners there on Saturday, a small race to benefit a local elementary PTO. They also had a timing company coordinate the race, and we had chips in our race bibs, but they only had the mats at the finish line, not the start. Odd. Anyone else ever experience that before? Maybe it’s because it was a small race?
Anyway, the horn sounded and we were off. My earlier online stalking also revealed what looked like a relatively easy course:
Yeah, that was deceiving.
We hit the first hill at just over the .50 mile mark, as depicted in the graph, but it felt a lot steeper than it looks like here. There’s what felt like another major hill just over the 1 mile mark and while we did enjoy a brief bit of downhill, there was pretty significant incline just before the 3 mile mark.
Maybe it’s because I was sick, but all those hills were brutal. I ran the first mile in 8:47, which is slow for me, but oddly, my time got faster as the race progressed. But I don’t think I was really processing this. All I remember is looking at my time around the 2.90 mark and realizing I was still in the 23 minute range. Really!? How the heck did that happen? But the idea of a PR didn’t even occur to me. We entered the gates back into the school parking lot and as we rounded the corner and I saw the finish line, I SPRINTED like I’ve never sprinted in a race before. Honestly, it was because I saw a woman about my age not too far in front of me and I just wanted to pass her. I even heard a guy near the finish line say, “Nice push!” I never even looked up at the time clock as I crossed the finish line.
I figured I finished a little behind my PR time, but honestly had no idea because I had accidentally configured my Nike GPS+ for a 5 mile race, so the timing was all wonky. When I finally caught up with Dr. G., he said, “Great job! You came in just over 25 minutes.”
Um, really??? Sure enough, when I saw the final results online, MANY hours later, there it was: 25:02, or 8:03/mi.
I missed a sub-25 5K by 2 freaking seconds.
Would I have met that goal if they had a timed mat at the start of the course? Probably. It easily took about 3-4 seconds for me to cross the “start line.” Grrrr. But it’s hard to be disappointed: I accidentally PR’d on a day I felt like crap. And now I know my first 2013 racing goal!!
Also, to put it into context, I ran a 5K this same exact time last year, 4.5 months after I had Mimi. I finished in 31:47. So in one year, I shaved nearly 7 minutes off my time. That’s pretty awesome.
One last note about this race: Races where there are playgrounds (or kids activities) are a gift to parents who have to drag their kids along 🙂 Dr. G. was easily able to keep Buddy and Mimi entertained while I ran.
Anyway, the big day continued for Buddy: he earned his yellow belt in karate! And we learned he was a wiggly tooth. Looks like the tooth fairy will be paying us a visit soon!
Also, you may have noticed some site design changes here at Keeping Mommy Sane. I transferred hosting services and now I have a lot more flexibility.
For those on the East Coast – stay safe today!
[…] to be realistic and not beat myself up over my inactivity this past week. My only workout since the Ladybug 5K last weekend was a subpar Body Pump class last Wednesday morning that I coughed and sniffled my way […]