Race Day - Mrs. F

First of all, I want to get this out of the way -- I DID IT!!!!!!!!!

I ran the turkey trot with wicked hills in 35 minutes and 28 seconds. I not only beat my first goal of running the whole thing, I beat my time goal by almost 10 full minutes. WOOT!

It was challenging getting everything ready. I had all the kids put out their clothes, socks, shoes, and jackets the night before. I had the diaper bag and my bag backed. We woke everyone up at 6 am, so the kids could have time to eat some breakfast before we left. I had wanted to leave by 715, it was about 725 when we finally got gas and on the road.

I ate a half cinnamon raisen bagel with some cream cheese and a half cup of coffee. I also had a few sips of gatorade before the race( I plan on skipping that step next time).

As I arrived, my anxiety went thru the roof. I had no idea where to go, where to take the kids for child care and there were a lot of people who looked like they knew what they were doing. There was a bit of added stress trying to keep this all under wraps too.

Our cross country runner had went ahead and got his registration. Our friend,Amy, quickly distracted him and they went outside to do some warmups. Mr. F went to get our registration packets while I took the kids to the child care area. I got the little ones settled and the big ones sent off for a walk around the school

Our eldest daughter was going to be holding down the fort with some of the kids. Mr. F told her we were going to go shopping for a birthday present so we wouldnt be at the race. Shes like whatever. Afterwords she told me "Next time you tell me you are going shopping, Im not going to believe you".

Mr. F and I then took some time to figure out how to get the chip attached to our shoe, and our race tags pinned on our shirts. At one point, one son came in and saw the number but he wisely kept that info to himself. And at another point, we had to send Amy off to circumvent our cc runner as he was heading straight for us. Mr. F and I were standing next the to door when our CC runner shows up and points to my race tag and says "Mom, you're running?" with this incredulous look on his face. I tired to downplay it but he wasnt fooled lol. I actually said to him that I started running last week and that I was going to go from 2 minutes of running to a 5k. He was too focused on the race ahead to question me He told me he loved me-- aww how sweet. At this point, he has no clue that Mr. F is running, in face, he turns and hands his jacket and warmups to Mr. F to hold!

As the three of us(Mr. F,my friend Amy and me) positioned ourselves in the back -- we jockeyed for position with some other ladies. A conversation ensued after that and we discovered, they too, had done C25k!! That was pretty cool.

It was confusing at the beginning, after hearing the gun sound, but not knowing where the exact starting line was. So we took it slow on the start but the pack began thinning out. It was pretty amazing to see the sea of people ahead of me on one of the downhills!

I kept up with my friend for the first little bit and it quickly became apparent that her pace was faster. So I fell back, not too far, but far enough to find my own pace. I jockeyed positions with a few different people as I went thruout. Some people walked the big hills, but I ran them all! It was a bit discouraging when some young kids running with other adults, passed me. I just tried to remember that I wasnt here to place ahead of anyone, that I was just here for myself! That helped some.

The course was wicked. Big huge sloping uphills and downhills and very few flat stretches. I swear that first mile(they marked 1 mile and the 2 mile points) was the longest one Ive ever ran. It was a bit encouraging, though just as i passed the 1 mile marker, some other friends appeared near the trail cheering. That was just what I needed to keep running on!

I only got a glimpse of Mr. F once, when i was coming back down around and he was on the upper portion of the path. I was very happy to see that he has several people behind him and he was running well!

The emotional moment came though as I neared the finish line and I saw my friends, and my kids all there cheering me on. It brought tears to my eyes to hear their voices cheering their momma on. I was so concentrating on finishing that I didnt even see the clock. It wasnt until afterwards, that I asked my friends about time. They thought somewhere in the 35 minute range. I was estactic with that time. My friend Amy, who rocks, finished in 33 minutes!~ And ill leave Mr. F to share his time!!

Im sore and a bit stiff but no injuries to report! I still cannot believe I ran an entire 5k race!!!


Keep on running
Mrs. F

PS -- Pics and maybe even video to come later!!