A personal goal I've had since I picked up running again is to get pretty close to my high school XC pace. Ok, that's not true, my first goal was to finish a 5K under 30 minutes and I kicked that goal's butt, so on to the aforementioned goal. Note: I only ran one year of varsity cross country in high school, only because a girl on my basketball team asked me since I was a fast sprinter (totally not the same thing btw). I didn't really want to, but eventually gave in. After summer-long and fall training, my fastest pace was around 22 minutes.
Today, I finished my 5K in 22:58 minutes!!! Crazy, I almost reached my goal!!! I think this means I'm definitely ready for a 10K race now, or at least am ready to kick the crap out of this current goal.
When we signed up the website advertised the top three finishers in each group would win prizes. I thought in the back of my head that I really wanted to finish in the top three of the women's 20-29 group. And guess what.... my 22:58 was THIRD OVERALL in my group!!! CRAZY :) Bring on the medal ceremony!
What I didn't know was that the top 20 finishers of each gender -- out of every age group (12 and under all the way to 60+ -- got shirts at the end of the race. I totally dismissed that idea in the back of my head, but again, though that would have been neat. Well, when I pushed through the chute, a purple sticker was placed on my bib as one of the top 20 female finishers. I'm so amazed at what I accomplished!!! In fact, I was the 12th female finisher in the ENTIRE race. Overall, I placed No. 52 out of over 400 runners. But what made this run even more special (other than the obvious fact that J.D. agreed to run with me to help motivate me), was the fact that this was my first race in over eight years. I'm so excited and ready to run in more races :)
What was INSANE about the race is how I felt during the entire time. My iPhone GPS doesn't work out in the middle of nowhere, so I had NO CLUE as to what my pace was. I knew what time we started and I knew that after 1.5 miles the course turned from pavement to dirt, so that was about the only thing I had to gauge my distance/pace. I felt like I was running about an 8-9 minute mile pace, but I ended up finishing at a 7:41-minute/mile pace!!
I felt spent at the end, because the temperature picked up to nearly 90 degrees in full sunlight. But I tried to stick with a pack of runners who seemed to be running quickly. Eventually, I passed them up and also passed about a 60 year old man who had been back and forth with me the entire way. Running back to the chute, I summoned everything I had and competed in a full-blown sprint. I saw the timer was under 23 minutes and I WANTED to make it under the tape before that mark. AND I DID! The only thing that bummed me out was that some 12 year old boy finished seconds ahead of me. I should have finished before him, haha.
The race took place at Wente Vineyards in Livermore and it was such a beautiful trail to run! The post race ceremony took place right next to the vineyards, overlooking the golf course at the foothills. This was my first time at that specific winery. I'd been to one Livermore winery before when I was a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding back in 2008.
Back to the post race events I guess. I went back to my car, grabbed my camera, and came back to the race in time to see this guy approach the finish line.....
I also lingered near the race for a while to await the 10K finishers and help cheer them on. It was really fun to see the top finishers in that race! I also lingered to say hello and thank you to all the firemen who volunteered and put on the race. All the money spent there went to benefit their fund for fallen firefighters -- something I was glad to contribute money to!
Post race, I also tried my first few sips of Muscle Milk. I have always been a bit wary of it, because a.) I never worked out enough to warrant consuming that high of a caloric beverage and b.) it really just scared me. But it was yummy! I drank about 1/4 of the bottle and then popped the rest in the fridge to maybe drink after another long race.
And now I leave you with a bunch of extraneous photos from this morning:
I guess I'll have to be saving my parents' dinner party post for tomorrow. Trust me, you want to see these photos! It was so awesome AND I was a good girl. I didn't stuff myself, I ate a half-sized dessert and I only sampled two wines, never had a full glass for myself. Guess it all worked out, eh?!
And as I write this, someone's making me a delicious-smelling dinner. Can't wait!
Today, I finished my 5K in 22:58 minutes!!! Crazy, I almost reached my goal!!! I think this means I'm definitely ready for a 10K race now, or at least am ready to kick the crap out of this current goal.
When we signed up the website advertised the top three finishers in each group would win prizes. I thought in the back of my head that I really wanted to finish in the top three of the women's 20-29 group. And guess what.... my 22:58 was THIRD OVERALL in my group!!! CRAZY :) Bring on the medal ceremony!
What I didn't know was that the top 20 finishers of each gender -- out of every age group (12 and under all the way to 60+ -- got shirts at the end of the race. I totally dismissed that idea in the back of my head, but again, though that would have been neat. Well, when I pushed through the chute, a purple sticker was placed on my bib as one of the top 20 female finishers. I'm so amazed at what I accomplished!!! In fact, I was the 12th female finisher in the ENTIRE race. Overall, I placed No. 52 out of over 400 runners. But what made this run even more special (other than the obvious fact that J.D. agreed to run with me to help motivate me), was the fact that this was my first race in over eight years. I'm so excited and ready to run in more races :)
What was INSANE about the race is how I felt during the entire time. My iPhone GPS doesn't work out in the middle of nowhere, so I had NO CLUE as to what my pace was. I knew what time we started and I knew that after 1.5 miles the course turned from pavement to dirt, so that was about the only thing I had to gauge my distance/pace. I felt like I was running about an 8-9 minute mile pace, but I ended up finishing at a 7:41-minute/mile pace!!I felt spent at the end, because the temperature picked up to nearly 90 degrees in full sunlight. But I tried to stick with a pack of runners who seemed to be running quickly. Eventually, I passed them up and also passed about a 60 year old man who had been back and forth with me the entire way. Running back to the chute, I summoned everything I had and competed in a full-blown sprint. I saw the timer was under 23 minutes and I WANTED to make it under the tape before that mark. AND I DID! The only thing that bummed me out was that some 12 year old boy finished seconds ahead of me. I should have finished before him, haha.
The race took place at Wente Vineyards in Livermore and it was such a beautiful trail to run! The post race ceremony took place right next to the vineyards, overlooking the golf course at the foothills. This was my first time at that specific winery. I'd been to one Livermore winery before when I was a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding back in 2008.
Back to the post race events I guess. I went back to my car, grabbed my camera, and came back to the race in time to see this guy approach the finish line.....
I also lingered near the race for a while to await the 10K finishers and help cheer them on. It was really fun to see the top finishers in that race! I also lingered to say hello and thank you to all the firemen who volunteered and put on the race. All the money spent there went to benefit their fund for fallen firefighters -- something I was glad to contribute money to!
Post race, I also tried my first few sips of Muscle Milk. I have always been a bit wary of it, because a.) I never worked out enough to warrant consuming that high of a caloric beverage and b.) it really just scared me. But it was yummy! I drank about 1/4 of the bottle and then popped the rest in the fridge to maybe drink after another long race.
And now I leave you with a bunch of extraneous photos from this morning:
I guess I'll have to be saving my parents' dinner party post for tomorrow. Trust me, you want to see these photos! It was so awesome AND I was a good girl. I didn't stuff myself, I ate a half-sized dessert and I only sampled two wines, never had a full glass for myself. Guess it all worked out, eh?!And as I write this, someone's making me a delicious-smelling dinner. Can't wait!
