Weekend of Races

So much running in our house this weekend! 🙂

First, I had a 5k on Friday night.  It was my first 5k by myself since my very first one almost two years ago! I was anxious to see how I would do.  I was hoping to beat my best time (when I ran the Wyandotte 5k with Jamie in 30:28, which worked out to a 9:50 pace).  A sub-9:50 overall pace would’ve been great, but I was secretly hoping to do sub-30, but since I hadn’t run a 5k at my own pace in a long time, I really had no idea how I would fare.

My husband took me to the race and hung out with me at the start while I waited.

I ended up starting way at the back because I’d been in line for the porta potties longer than I anticipated.  I ended up starting about 11 minutes after the first wave!  But since I had time to kill, I did get a neat shot at the start.

Once I got started, I found it challenging to run amongst all the people in such a small space.  We were running on roads in Detroit, and in many spots, we were only able to run on half the road, because it was an out-and-back, and we had to leave the left side for the people coming back.   I did the best I could and tried not to be all rude about going up and around people.  If someone was blocking me, I did my best to be patient and wait until there was an opening.  I did run on the sidewalk a lot, though. 😛

The run out was a bit challenging, because we were running into some pretty strong headwinds (I’d estimate 15-18 mph).  I was holding a 9:20ish pace, though, so that made me feel really good!  I was getting tired by the time I hit the end of the first mile, but I told myself that it was only three miles, and if I can run 26 miles, I should be able to run a mere three at full effort. 😉

When we hit the turn-around at the Port Authority, we were running right on the waterfront–hello, tailwind! 🙂 My second mile was a bit slower than my first, thanks to those winds in the first half-mile, but when I turned around, I felt great with the wind at my back.  I had been passing people pretty regularly to start, but on the return, I was astonished at all the people I was flying by.  Now, of course, I had started with the group that was farther back, so they were by design probably slower than my average pace, but I can’t lie–it felt really awesome to be passing people. 😉

As we neared the finish, I really turned it on, and when I crossed, I was so excited to see my time.

I killed that sub-30 goal! My actual finish was 29:18…sweet!  😀 My last mile was a 9:13! When I saw how close I was to a sub-29, I tried my best to make it, but with all those people, it just wasn’t meant to be.  Still, I was thrilled beyond belief to get such a great time.

Afterward, I got a shot with my dear husband, and then we walked through the Brewery, where I got another picture.

They were giving out a free beer to all the runners.

That’s a lot of beer!  I did get my free beer and even took a drink.

My husband thought my reaction to it was hysterical.  Okay, so I don’t like beer. 😉 But I did have one taste, since I earned it!  During the race, there were lots of volunteers and cheerleaders, and many of them were shouting encouragement and reminding us, “Remember, you’re running for beer! There’s beer at the end!”  Which I’m sure was much more motivating for people other than me who actually like beer. 😉  I, on the other hand, enjoyed my glass of wine at Honest John’s bar, where my husband and I went for dinner.

So, that was Friday night.  Then came Saturday morning–another 5k!  This was the Super Hero Run with my boys.  We ran it with my friend Renee and her son, N.  Renee and I got a good laugh that both of our boys decided to go with the Captain America theme.

Jamie preferred not to dress up.

My husband even came to this early-morning race, because he had to whisk Jamie away to a baseball game afterwards.  So at least I got a family shot!

When the race started, both N and JJ started out really fast.  So fast that I had a hard time keeping up with JJ!  N and Renee were way out of our sights (remember, Renee and her husband are both seasoned runners, and Renee is even running the New York marathon this fall–so there’s a lot of speediness in N’s genetic make-up, lol!).  JJ tried to keep up with N for a while, but he just couldn’t.  I kept telling him to slow down and not start so fast, but he’s eight…and you  know how that goes. 😉

JJ hung with Jamie for the first 3/4 of a mile, surprisingly, and was even a bit ahead of Jamie at first, but because Jamie knows that slow and steady wins the race, he eventually passed JJ.  Here’s JJ on the course after about the first mile and a half.

They had a water station right before that spot, and JJ was so excited! “My first water station!”  LOL  (They didn’t have water stations at his first 5k. I’m sure it would’ve been frozen if they had. 😉 )   I encouraged him to walk through the water station, though he clearly wanted to try to run and drink at the same time, ha!

A little while later, we came to a straight-away, and I could see Jamie ahead in the distance.

Okay, you can’t really see him in that spot, but trust me, he’s there. 😉  JJ had taken off his mask by this time, and he handed off the shield to me pretty early on, but his costume was still quite popular.  He got lots of encouragement from spectators who called out, “Way to go, Captain America!”  He really enjoyed the attention (wonder where he gets that from).  He also enjoyed reading every sign…he’s eight, so he still can still be a fun challenge for him.  He’s supposed to read a certain number of minutes per month, and after the third or fourth sign, he said, “I’m going to tell my teacher that this counts as five-minutes of reading!”  😀

By the time we got into mile 3, he was clearly getting tired.  I’d let him walk a couple of times during mile 2, but when we got to 2.25, I told him no more walking.  I told him he could run really slow, but he needed to run the rest of the way because it wasn’t very far.  He whined a bit but kept running.  Then, right after we passed the mile 3 marker, we came to a spot where we would turn and do  the last straight-away to the finish.  There were lots of spectators there, encouraging him, and I think that the attention fueled his ego, because suddenly, just as we turned the corner, he took off at a sprint!  I was stunned and had to work really hard to keep up.  The spectators around us were all cheering for him (and laughing at me 😉 ) when they saw him sprint, and that fueled him even more.  I wished we’d had the Garmin so I could see what his pace was for that last tenth of a mile, but I’d given it to Jamie.

As we approached the finish line, I was so excited–he crossed at 34:18, which was over four and a half minutes faster than his first 5k!  He was really tired when he was done, but so happy.

He and N (who crossed about 6 minutes ahead of us!) enjoyed water and popcorn after the race.  And JJ let N hold the shield. 😉

I was amazed at how many people came up to him to congratulate him afterwards.  Many people commented on his awesome dash at the end. I wanted to stay longer to hang out downtown (Monroe is a great little town, and it was a fun event), but we had to hurry up to get to Jamie’s baseball game.  My husband had whisked Jamie away right after the finish, and he made it to the game with 2 minutes to spare!

JJ and I made it to the game about 1/3 of the way through, and while we were on the way, Renee texted me that Jamie took the first place medal for his age group!  Yes, he was the only one in his age group, but, as I told him later, he deserved that first place medal, because he was the only 11 or 12-year-old in Monroe County who got up off his butt to run a 5k that morning. 😉  He was really happy to win anything, and he thought the prize they gave him was just great.

Hair care products, lol!  Seriously, he thought it was great–it’s the first age-group gift he’s ever gotten, and he promised me he would use them. 😉

All in all, it was a great weekend for all of us, and we’re all excited to start planning our next family race. 🙂

Thanks for reading!