Of course, never having run a Quarter Marathon before, I was guaranteed a PR today LOL.
After a night of virtually no sleep (thanks to insomnia and Jones), I got up at 4 am to be at the race to volunteer at 6am. It was about 50 degrees and majorly windy, so I was pretty chilly in my shorts and long sleeve tech shirt with a short sleeve tech shirt over the top. When I got to the race, I got warmed up by unloading a bunch of the metal barriers to make the finishers’ chute and protect the timing tent. Unfortunately, I then spent the next hour at the bag drop and was so cold I was having trouble holding the markers to write on the bags. I nearly decided to run with the long sleeve shirt on, but one of the guys there convinced me that I’d be too warm. Of course, that meant I had to strip down to my running bra and then just put one shirt back on. Pretty sure that didn’t help with the being cold issue!
I met up with a bunch of friends and planned to go slowly. But we all know about the “best laid plans”. I ended up getting separated from the mom I going to run with and ended up with a different mom, who was running a bit faster. We did the first mile in 9:14. Oops. Hmm, better slow down. We finished mile 2 in 9:13. Crap. Really better slow down (although, honestly, I was feeling awesome and wasn’t working all that hard.) I let my friend move ahead while I walked through the water stop. I figured now that I was by myself, I could slow down. I tried to run easy, but every time I looked at Garmin, it was saying 8 something or 9 something. I finished mile 3 in 9:15. At this point, I decided to call it a tempo run and just go with it. Mile 4 was 8:56. Mile 5 was 9:04. Oddly, I didn’t feel like I was working all that hard. Somewhere in mile 6 I came upon my friend. This is where I would have normally started really picking it up, but I decided to keep running easy with her and we finished that mile in 9:23. We took it easy for another quarter mile or so, but then I convinced her to pick up the pace. Bad friend that I am, I ditched her at the very end to fly across the finish line. Why? Because there were two guys running just ahead of me and I couldn’t resist “chicking” them. Final time: 1:00:##. It was probably a good thing I never looked at Garmin towards the end or I might have hurt myself trying to break an hour. Now I just have to hope that my speedier than planned race doesn’t hurt me next weekend.
All in all, it was a great race, despite the wind that we hit on the last mile. As soon as I was done, I raced home, grabbed a quick shower, and headed to church for Jones’ First Communion. From runner to mother in no time flat.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the awesome moms I know!
Great job! It was SO windy today. Great way to spend your mother's day.
Happy mother's day! Great job on the quarter marathon! I think you are going to rock the marathon next week.
Happy Mother's Day to you! Congrats on the speedy run – sounds like a great boost before the marathon. Can't wait to see you soon!
Sounds like you have been having a great day!! Happy Mothers day to you!!
Happy MOther's day and congrats on the PR!! 🙂
When you're feeling good, somwtimes you just have to go with it! Congrats on a great race!
LOL – love beating the boys. You scrub up pretty well.
You did great! Congrats to you! I love the pictures:) I have a feeling that you are going to do so well next weekend! You are for sure ready for your marathon! Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Mothers Day!And congratulations on a well done race!
Happy Mothers Day!And congratulations on a well done race!
OMG!!! What a great race! You'll do awesome next week! Happy Mother's Day : )
A busy mother's day! Good job on the quarter marathon!
Happy Mother's Day and congrats on a great race!!!
Great race! Congrats!!
Love the blue race shirts. Congrats on the race – perfect mother's day!
love it! from mother to runner in no time flat. now that's a great line;-)
Wow…you volunteered and then ran it too! happy Mother's Day to you!!!
Awesome job! Congratulations!Great pictures – you look great!Happy Mother's Day!
Congrats on setting the bar with that first PR!
Happy mothers day! Congrats on ur PR! Everytime u post a picture of urself u r thinner than the one before!! Enjoy ur week of rest! 🙂
Great job…quarter marathon? Hmmmm I like the sounds of that.
I was volunteering at one of the aid stations and thought I saw you but wasn't sure if it was you. Congrats on the race yesterday!
Happy mother's day and congrats on a speedy race. 🙂
Sounds like a great pre-marathon race! Well done!
I really admire all the moms out there who balance their running with their family. They deserve an extra special mothers day. SuperMoms!
"From runner to mother in no time flat." Love it!Great job 🙂
Great Job!!! and pop on over to my blog you won something!
Love the runner to mother change up 🙂 Happy First Communion!Nice job on the run – don't freat about it for next week – you're going to do great!
Awesome job!
Awesome way to spend a day dedicated to you!
Awesome!
What a perfect way to spend Mother's Day – yahoo for your PR! Glad to hear your day was great – and way to rock that race. Gotta love days when you just feel fabulous. Way to go!
Hey, a PR is a PR, way to go!!! 🙂 Sounds like the perfect Mother's Day, glad you enjoyed it so!!
Congrats on the PR! What a great way to spend mothers day!
Aww!Just another day in the life I guess 😉 Hope in addition to the great run you had a great Mother's Day!