…to tell you about my weekend! I’ve been reading about all of your holiday festivities and race reports, and I have been on pins and needles waiting to tell you about mine! My favorite holiday + running + racing + family + friends + a surprise canoe trip = AWESOME!
It all began when I woke up on Monday morning [remembered that I didn’t have to work and I got to race] and headed to the Rotary 5K in my hometown of Westerville. I must admit, I joined Race Club and committed to running 7 of 10 possible 5K’s this summer (because-I-never-overcommit-myself-these-days-and-you-get-a-nice-jacket), but I just haven’t been thrilled about the shorter distance (okay, I only ran one 5K so far this summer, but it was horrible). I feel like just as I get warmed up, I’m done. I would love to PR in the 5K distance, but I don’t know if this will be my year. However, I am really happy I joined Race Club because I have been meeting some wonderful – not to mention fast – runners who I have been learning a lot from. Plus, it’s just fun to feel like you are part of a team when you are running. I even heard people cheering for the “Fleet Feet Race Club!”
Here we are:
I ran this race with my sister, Mollie. And we met up with some of the awesome Lucky 13’s before the race for a star-studded photo shoot.
Check it out:
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| That’s Keri, Me, Mollie, Sarah, Judi & Julie of the Lucky 13’s. Who needs a blogger meet-up? |
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| Sarah wanted to make sure we remembered to run – for our lives, that is. She’s awesome that way! |
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| Kim & Me. Her blog is famous for being gluten-free! |
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| Me, Julie & Mollie. You might remember Julie as a dear friend of my Mom’s from THIS post. |
And run for my life I did:
| Just look at those strides – longest ever, right? |
No, seriously, I thought I was suddenly a Gazelle and took off way too fast. Again. Still. It’s a major problem for me during 5K’s. I know I do it, I know I shouldn’t do it, and I still do it. WHY?!
Sarah kept telling me we were going fast – and I kept right on going. I looked down at my Garmin once and saw an 11-something on there! I even told Sarah I could run the whole race that fast. Then I hit mile 1.1. Whooosh!!!!!!!!!! I deflated quickly.
Mile 1 -12:30 …. Clearly my Garmin doesn’t even reflect my 11-something victory.
Mile 2 -15:29…. No more steam, hence the major slowdown.
Mile 3- 15:04 …. I couldn’t really recover it was so hot and I was so worn out.
Mile .1 – 09:45 … Somehow I found it in me to sprint to the Finish! My new favorite thing.
Mollie even came back to finish the race with me (she thought my knee blew out after my speediness, but it didn’t, thankfully):
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| We’re so fast we’re one. big. blur. |
All in all, it was a pretty good race. I was bummed out that I ran out of steam so fast and complained to my sister for most of miles 2 and 3 (she loves me anyway), but I had a blast with my girls! I liked that the race was small and had a hometown feel, but I was disappointed in the new route. I liked I better at the old location, which was through a nature preserve, yesterday we ran on the city streets which were not well-manned. I was worried about someone getting hurt and since there was a dude puking by the side of the road (it was super-hot) I thought someone should be available (besides me and the ladies) to see if he was okay. This was a very family-friendly race and reminded me of my own childhood. My dad even came out to spectate and snap some photos for us. My official time was 44:03, an average pace of 14:30. Lucky 14, anyone? Anyone? Could I really be getting slower?! Oh well, it’s an improvement from always being last in my age group!
Me and Mollie at the finish:
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| I love this picture! |
And, before I knew it, the time was 9:30 and the day had just begun.
My husband planned a surprise canoe trip on Hoover Dam:
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| He can be pretty elusive, you know. He almost didn’t make it in the frame! |
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| Hoover Dam |
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| Our canoe. |
How about burning a something-like-1300 calories in 3.5 hours? And have fun with the ones you love? Who could resist that!?
We did a lot of exploring and even saw some wildlife indigenous to the area:
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| Cove. |
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| Deer. |
Mollie entertained us with scenes and tunes from Pocahontas:
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| (She would like me to clarify she is really not naked) |
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| ‘I look once more, just around the river-bend!’ |
We had a great time:
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| I don’t like the way he is looking at me! |
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| I like pictures where you can only see my head! |
It was a perfect day, topped off with fireworks.
We watched them from the place where we got married:
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| The Everal Barn and Homestead. |
After all, our anniversary is coming up on July 07. The perfect day? Just one of many, in my book. I can’t wait to do it all again next year.
Happy 4th Everyone! I hope your holidays were as great as mine.
Until the next mile marker,
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