All Star 5k

So finally after all this running, I have finally run a race. I realize that I don't talk too much about running on my blog, but I am running a lot, (at least 3-4 times a week) am reading a new book ("Run Like a Mother http://www.amazon.com/Run-Like-Mother-Moving---Family/dp/0740785354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341844779&sr=8-1&keywords=run+like+a+mother), and have been perusing lots of running blogs. So, even if it is not in my words, running is in my head often. I also know I like reading race recaps, so I will enlighten my readers on how Aaron and I fared.

We had to wake up relatively early to get to the race on time (6:00am), but it was not too much of a problem since my kids wanted to help prepare me by waking up at 5:30 the day before.  I guess it helped, right? Once I got up, I at a piece of toast, a peach and coffee. I knew I didn't want to eat too much, but I didn't want to be hungry either. This was a good amount because I didn't get sick to my stomach and I didn't feel starving. Aaron's mom generously came over to watch the kids and we hopped in the car and left. We wanted to leave by 6:30, and as we were pulling out, the car said 6:31. Not bad at all.

Aaron found a great parking spot that was close to the race. The pictures are at that said parking spot. I used my poor quality camera phone for the pictures and decided to put my phone in the car so I didn't get any race pictures. My phone just wouldn't fit easily in my hidden pocket in my shirt. Because of our great spot, we got there about 30 minutes before the race started. There were already a lot of people there, so we just stood around and waited. When we were in the car driving to the race, my body felt a little nervous, but because we waited so long to start running, once it was time to run, I felt normal.

When it was finally time to start, there was a lot of talking, blah, blah, blah. I kinda zoned out a little, but it was good to know that 100% of the proceeded were going to finding cures for cancer. It seemed like they kept passing the microphone to more and more people and it got a little long. Eventually the race started, and I took off and...... oh wait, I stood still. I guess there were 9000 people there or so (the largest in all-star history), so there was a little congestion and it probably took a good 5 minutes before we got to the start. Still, the little walking to the start like was a good warm up.

Once we finally took off, it felt good. I was really curious to see how Aaron would do with this race because all his training has been indoor on the treadmill. Because there was so many participants, you really had to weave in and around people, but it wasn't as bad as the Thanksgiving run in Minneapolis. Still, you had to pay attention. Aaron and I settled into a nice grove and for the first mile ran 11:22. It felt good and I wasn't getting tired at all. I am all about conserving energy for the end. During the course, there were two fire hydrants that were spraying and Aaron ran through both of them and like it. I skipped it because of my glasses.  The second mile felt very similar to the first and our pace seemed very steady. We had to go over a bridge, but the little hill didn't make a difference on our pace. The next mile was 11:18.

Now this is when things got tricky. After mile 2 we headed back to the Power and Light district and that's when things got a little hard. You see, to get there there is a long, slow, hill. It's not super steep, but just constant so there is no relief.  It was getting a little hard at the end and I had a side stitch for a moment. I looked over at Aaron and he was doing pretty good. I thought, if he can do this hill with no hill training, than I could certainly hang on. I was never thinking about walking, just slowing down a bit... but I didn't.  I told one of my running group friends that my goal was to not inhibit my naturally athletic husband (who did train for this race, but MUCH less than me). So, I did not slow down. I just plugged away. We finished the last mile at 12:20 or so. It was a little slower, but understandable considering the hill. The last 10th of a mile was nice and downhill and after recovering from the hill, I was ready to make an impressive finish, so I started going faster (and Aaron too).  Pretty soon it became more and more congested until we were FORCED to walk. I could see the finish line, and according to my watch we had 1/100th left to go. I was so disappointed. I wanted to finish in style, but instead I had to WALK over the finish line. This happened due to three reasons; 1, the 1 mile fun run racers were finishing right when we were, 2, the finish line was smaller than the road so it created a bottle neck, and 3, there were lots and lots of people. I wasn't happy about it at all, and I really think the planners of this race should have thought about those issues. I'm over it now, but because of them, I don't have an accurate finish time for my first 5K.

After the race, we picked up our medals, water and food and headed home. One of the things I like best about running is that after running feel. It might be the endorphins, but maybe it's also your muscles relaxing and thanking you for the work out. Either way, it makes me feel good.