Race Report - Spooktacular (and slightly sparkly) Scott Teays 5k

For the last 8 or so weeks, I've been training for my next half marathon.  It's been a pretty great 8 weeks, with some really awesome runs.  I've felt great the whole time.  Until this week.  This week I felt a little burned out and just wasn't feeling much like running.  I skipped one day all together and shortened the other days by as much as half.  It wasn't pretty.  But tomorrow is a new day and a new week, and a new opportunity to run some good miles.   Now on to my race report:

I'd been looking forward to this little 5k, put on by one of the local elementary schools, for a couple of weeks.  Not because I was excited to run it.  Nope.  Because it was my first opportunity to wear my nifty green sparkly skirt.

I knew it was supposed to be chilly on Saturday morning, so on Friday night as I was planning the rest of my outfit, I decided I'd wear a long sleeve winter running shirt that just happened to be the same shade of green as the sparkly skirt. And I just happen to have a pair of grey running capris with green accents (same shade as the shirt.)  I was going to be sparkly and very very green.  After sending a pic to my far-away running buddies to confirm that no, you cannot have too much green, my outfit was set. 

Saturday morning was chilly but sunny - a beautiful day for a run.  I arrived at the race and got signed in and went thru all my pre-race rituals and headed to the start line.  Since the race was for a school to bring awareness on the need to fight childhood obesity and how to raise healthy kids, there was a 1k race for the kids as well as the 5k.  The kids raced first.  It's always so much fun to watch kids run.  They do it with such joy and excitement.

318 - Dad's birthday!

The kids' excitement rubbed off on me, and by the time the 5k started I was super happy and looking forward to the run.   I had a goal in mind, but wasn't taking the race too seriously - taking a lesson from the kids, I was out there just to have fun.  And I did.  I was wearing a super fun sparkly green skirt, it was a beautiful fall morning, my bib number was my dad's birthday (love it when I get numbers that have personal meaning) how could I not?

I kept a fairly consistent pace and was feeling good for the first 2.75 miles.  Towards the end of mile 3, I started feeling overheated (my nifty green shirt is way too warm for 50 degrees) and had to walk after one of the short uphill sections - my heart rate was higher than i was comfortable with (on this particular day being hot + hill, even a small one, wasn't a good combination for me).   It didn't take long for it to come down to a manageable, comfortable rate and I was running again, just a bit slower than before.


Greeted by Bree when I got home

I crossed the finish line to the cheers and encouragement of the kids.  It was so much fun to hear them cheering not only for me (who they didn't know) but for their parents, their friends' parents, or their teachers.  I heard a lot of "here comes so-and-so's Mom....  Go Mom!!)  and "look it's my Dad....  Go daddy!!" and "there's Mrs. whoever - go go go!!"  as I was cooling down and watching some of the people finishing after me.  There should be a kid cheering section at the end of every race !

This was the first race in a while where I was actually having a good time (the other 2 5ks I've run lately were both mostly miserable).  This race reminded why I do it.  It reminded me that running and racing can actually be fun.  I didn't meet my time goal, but I did run my fastest 5k of the fall season. And I had fun.  It was just the race I needed.

Race Stats: Spooktacular Scott Teays 5k

October 20, 2012

Finish time:
31:06 (garmin); 31:08 (official)

Splits:
Mile 1 - 9:48
Mile 2 - 9:50
Mile 3 - 10:29
Mile 0.1 - 8:35

Place:
40th overall, 15th woman