Seeing Reece made me even more excited about the race Shane and I are directing in September to raise money for Rex Timko. Rex is only 4 years old and suffers from Batten's Disease but I know with the help of our community I know we can celebrate many more birthdays in the years ahead! You can find more details on the Boston Harvest 5k for Rex at Miles of Smiles.
Hanging out with Reece after the race.
Today was the hottest day of the year yet. When we got to the race site it was already in the 80's. By the end of the race it was in the 90's and definitely felt even hotter. The firetruck blew it's horn to signal the start and off we went. I was feeling really good in the first mile. I was running with an older man who seemed to have a very consistent pace. I decided to go with that for awhile. As my Garmin clicked one mile I remarked to him that I hoped I'd still be running 8 minute miles when I'm in the masters group. He said he hadn't realized he was going that fast and backed off. I was sad to see him go. Mile 1 was run in 8:04.
But onward I went and soon I picked a new rabbit. A woman in a pink sports bra was running just faster than my pace. I pushed to catch her and we were side by side for most of mile 2 without exchanging a single word. I think we were pushing eachother. She'd get a little ahead and then I'd catch her and pull ahead by a few feet. We hit a few hills in this section and having her to pull me forward really helped. I believe my mile 2 split was 9:18.
In the third mile we turned into a headwind and lost all of the shade. I began to feel like I was baking. I was panting and my throat was dry. My stomach started to ache and I wondered if I should walk. I forced myself to plod forward but looking at my Garmin showed my pace was even slower than mile 2 on the hills. The woman in the pink sports bra started to pull away and I tried to catch her but my legs felt heavy and unresponsive. Three 5k's in 8 days may have been a little much. I missed my mile 3 split but it had to be mid or high 9's.
I turned the last bend and saw the finish line. It was still two tenths of a mile or so away and I tried to pick up my pace but settled for just maintaining. I heard footsteps behind me and two teenage boys flew past. They had been walking on and off the whole time and I realized that they had no clue about pacing. Next came three older gentlemen who obviously had a finishing kick left when I did not. Being passed 5 times in the last tenth of a mile was not fun at all but there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.
I came through the chute and stopped my Garmin. I started to dry heave as I walked to the chip removal area. The volunteer handed me a bottle of water and I made it to the grass without losing my breakfast. The EMT's were treating a woman who'd blacked out on the sidewalk. It was obvious it had been a rough race for everyone.
In the end my official time was 26:57 and I placed second in my age group. I was thrilled to do better than my last two 5k's on a rolling course in killer heat. Shane finished in 23-something and Gabby finished in 33-something. They both missed age group awards by one place. I really wish we could have sent Gabby back to North Carolina with an award but it didn't happen this time. Hopefully she'll kick some tail in her next 5k when she gets back home!
Showing off my hardware.
Afterwards we celebrated with Cracker Barrel for lunch and then I finished my scheduled miles for the day. My plan called for 7 miles at marathon pace so I did 4.3 more when I got home at 10:16 average. I'm pretty happy with that, especially with the heat and feeling so horrible after the race. All in all it's been a pretty awesome week and I still have one more day of my husband being on vacation to look forward to!
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