2019 Warrior 5K

Happy Monday! It's been a LONG time since I blogged on a Monday, but it's a holiday week and I wanted to hit the ground rolling after having an amazing weekend in the world of running!

As I mentioned in my spring race plans post, this past weekend was filled with running adventures. It all began on Saturday with a local 5K at the high school where I graduated, followed by a road trip to Ponchatoula Louisiana for a 10K and the strawberry festival. (More on that in a later post!)

On Saturday morning, the weather was iffy. Lots of rain, wind, tornado warnings, etc. Thankfully, it all held off and our events (the 5K and an Easter egg hunt) were able to go off as planned! This race also wasn't set to start until 9 a.m., which I thought was odd and kind of late for a race, especially one in April in the south. This 5K was the kickoff to an all-day event, so once I saw the schedule, it made more sense as to the timing of it all.

As I mentioned, this race was at the school where I graduated, so it was fun being back and seeing all of the memories and familiar faces. This school is actually preK3-12, so I spent a LOT of years there. When I walked in the front door, I heard my Spanish name "ROSITA" (long story) and my Spanish 2 teacher was there to greet me with a big hug. It was so much fun seeing her again! (Y'all, it's been almost 20 years since I graduated!)

My sweet dad came along as my race support while Jason took Brayden to our church's Easter egg hunt (and I met up with them later).

Being back in the gym where I spent SO much time was so weird!

They even kept our poster with our softball winnings! I was on the 1999 & 2000 teams!

After a little opening ceremony, it was time to begin the race. Thankfully, the race director is a runner and knew we were ready to get going, so we only stayed in the opening cerremonies for a short amount of time.

This race was small and once they called "GO" I quickly realized that I was in the lead. What. The. Heck. I had read about all of the roads to turn on, but wasn't sure I could remember them. Thankfully, the course was well marked and I was able to follow the signs just right!

After finding my groove, I just kept focusing on moving forward. It was warm and humid and I was running fast (for me). My first mile clocked in at a 7:47 and I knew I couldn't keep that up all three miles. I also had a guy on my heels and I didn't want him to pass me. This course was not closed either, so the cars on the road made me a little nervous.

I did grab a cup of water at two of the water stops, but I kept running while drinking the water (which was kind of a mistake). I also kept willing for it to rain so I could cool off a bit! Unfortunately, it never did.

As we passed the 3.1 mile mark, the guy that was behind me passed me (of course) and went on to cross the finish line just a few steps ahead of me.

After he turned around, I realized who he was and made a joke about it. I work with his dad! Small world, huh?

I seriously gave this race all I had. My lungs were burning and I just couldn't go anymore. Even though I didn't cross in first, I still placed as first female and received a certificate towards a pair of shoes from our local running store! (This was our 2nd annual Warrior 5K and I also placed as first female last year!)

 
After grabbing a bottle of water and saying goodbye to everyone, my dad and I set out for our church and the Easter egg hunt.

On the way there, I was talking about my PR and mentioned that I didn't come anywhere close to it, even though I felt like I was running fast (for me). My dad asked if I was sure...so I looked it up and much to my surprise, I DID PR...by 14 second with an average pace of 8:02 per mile!

I could not believe it! Having a PR at a race held by my school is extra special to me, so this one means just that much more, especially since my previous PR was from 2015 (and pre-baby)!

It was a great start to the weekend and I couldn't wait to see what the rest of it had in store (more great running things to come so stay tuned)!

Have you ever had that nostalgic return-to-your-high-school kind of feeling?

4 Miler On The 4th Of July (& A New PR)!

Hello and happy Wednesday! I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July!

As I mentioned on Monday, I debated running the local 4th of July 4 Miler - it's one I've done several times but just wasn't sure if I really wanted to this year. The logical side of my brain kicked in on Monday afternoon once I realized that I was going to get up the following morning and go for a run anyway, so why not make it a fun one?

Since I hadn't preregistered, I knew I needed to get there with time to spare before the race began. Parking and logistics isn't hard, thankfully (it's a small town).

On the way there, I decided to look up information on my PR from this race/distance in years passed and after reading it to Jason, I knew that goal was NOT obtainable (I even said so to Jason). Three years ago on race morning, I woke up INCREDIBLY late and made it to the start line with moments to spare. I somehow PR'd that race at 35:04! The following year, I tried to beat my time and missed it by mere seconds (35:06). Of course this year, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I wouldn't even come close to a PR.

Oh well - I decided that I would just have fun and take this one as a training run. No big deal!

I seem to always end up in the same outfit for this race every year! Haha whoops!

Registering for the race and stashing everything away in the vehicle was a breeze. I even had time to foam roll and make a potty stop! Bonus!

Off we go!

Shortly after starting this race, I saw a girl ahead of me that I recognized from other local races. She's in my age group and super fast, so I decided I would try and keep up with her for as long as possible. I managed to do so until a little after mile 3 when I lost her. 

Throughout the race, I kept checking my watch to see how my timing was going. Somehow, I noticed that I would be very close to a PR if I kept pushing myself...although my timing in my head told me that I would be off by just a bit. I wondered how in the world I was even close to a PR? I'm still not sure! Maybe pushing a jogging stroller for so many runs helped my leg strength? No telling...

I slowed down a bit at mile 3 because I didn't think I was going to get a PR and I seriously felt like I was about to fall over. Hello July heat and humidity in the south! Once I realized towards the end of mile 3 that I was actually going to PR by a good bit, I kicked it into as high of a gear I could muster and made it across the finish line.

My PR? It was by a whole 30 seconds!!

I couldn't believe it!

After crossing the finish line, I was handed a bottle of water which was so nice (vs having to bend down to pick one up) and I made a bee line to the closest shaded spot I could find.

Another noteworthy addition to this year's race (from the one I ran in 2015) was an adequate amount of water stops! This one had three vs the last time I ran where there was only one water stop. Thanks, guys!!

Jason and Brayden found me shortly thereafter and were excited about my PR, too!  (Well, Jason was excited...Brayden just wanted food!) Hah!

Jason also purchased a delicious and incredibly refreshing popsicle for me! These are made by a local company and they use all fresh ingredients and real fruit!

The popsicle flavor I tried after the race was a Mango Cherry one and it was so good!

I love my support crew so much! They are amazing!

The official race results were posted which showed that I placed 5th in my AG out of 29 women! I'll take it! 

After I cooled down, we stopped by a local diner for breakfast.

I so enjoyed my morning at the race and my time spent with two of my favorite guys! I am so glad I made the decision to get up and go run! :) Accomplishing something I thought was impossible was really fun, too!

How was your 4th of July? Did you run any races or eat any good food (or both)?