crossing the finish line!
I have officially completed my first real race! The 5k I ran was held in Kalamazoo, MI and the money earned from entry fees and donations went to a local church that works a lot within the local community. They do outreach programs, such as having a clothing store that is thrifty and a treasure hunt. (The church is the Kalamazoo Deacon's Conference- check them out, awesome people).
The race was this past Saturday, but we went up Friday evening and stayed with some close friends of our's that also ran. We ended up having a small, but great group of 5 (me, my friend, her husband, another girlfriend, and her sweet bf). Jake was our super cheerleader.
The boys ran together, and the two other ladies ran together. I ended up deciding to take my ipod, start with the girls, then go off solo and just see what I could do. Since this was my first race I had no idea what might happen and my only solid goal was to put 100% effort in and have a run time below 30 minutes.
That morning we woke up around 6 to leave by 7 since it was an hour drive to Kalamazoo. It was chilly to say the least and we stayed in our jackets and pants till the last minute. I admit, it took me a second to make sure I put the time chip on my shoe right (I was being extra
The race was held at a gorgeous park with old builings, a pond, winding trails, open fields, and wooded areas. It began up on a big hill on the street, but about a mile or so in it transitioned onto the trail- and it was wonderful. The scenery was breathtaking and the fall colors gave me goober smiles the whole time I was running.
I decided to sort of keep pace with a girl in front of me for a while, without getting too close and creeping her out. I was feeling pretty good so I took my pace up some and when I passed the first mile timer I was at a 9min/mile. I was totally FINE with that. That pace was actually faster than I anticipated and so I got pretty excited. Then, when I got to the 2 mile timer I heard him say 17 minutes, which means I was able to speed up my pace substantially. Again, very surprised. Now that I realized I might be able to bang this thing out in a time that would be way unexpected I wanted to keep this steady pace. I got trapped a couple times during some more narrow points on the trail, but I know that is normal and the people were all really respectful. Having tons of cheerleaders and smiling faces along the run helped a lot too. In the distance I saw the mile 3 timer and so I popped out an earbud to hear the time and I guess I had just missed him saying it so I had no idea what my pace had been for the last mile. I could hear the finish line coming up and kept my pace until the last little bit of the run so that I wouldn't poop out too soon. The last .5 miles I was feeling the quicker pace. I don't usually run this fast and my body knew it, but I prayed that I would just keep moving and not lose momentum. The last smidge of the race was uphill- how cruel! But, there were tons of people waiting to cheer us on past the finish line- including Jake :) I hustled up the hill...trying to beat this "little" kid that was running just ahead of me, but no such luck. I was mainly focused on trying to speed up a little and not look too angry when I crossed.
After I finished I met up with Jake and we cheered the rest of our group on across the finish line when they came in. The finishing times for everyone was:
Girls= about 35 mins
Boys= about 27 mins
Myself= 25 mins 20 secs- what??
Just to reiterate, I was NOT expecting to do a 8:15 minute pace. I had never done that before, and it was a really neat feeling to beat my own expectations. Everyone was so sweet and hooted/cheered for me when I went up to receive a medal for getting 2nd in my age division. It was an amazing experience and I summed it up to be like a rollercoaster...scary and nervous at first, but now I want to do it again and again! :)We went out for a delicious and well-earned breakfast after, then spent the rest of the day watching a 9-10 year old football game (too much fun), playing outside with their dog Mischa, and exploring downtown G.R. Went headed home around 6pm, grabbed some cheap dinner, went on a long and unsuccessful hunt for frozen yogurt, got cranky because of traffic that kept us for an extra 2 hours, and got home around 11pm- then I ate some ice cream :)
It was a much needed weekend away and an absolute blast to run in such a beautiful race with such fun people. I could totally do this whole fall weather thing 80% of the year. I am going on a run later this morning- probably just a shorter one (took yesterday off) and I have yet to figure out if I will start training for a 10k this soon or not. Stay posted, have a wonderful day! xoxo
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