Tuesday, October 26, 2010

great pumpkin chase!

So I got him...or...errr...almost got him.

Like kinda half.

Shoot....you can't even see his face.

If you remember a few weeks ago, I listed some goals for my first serious 5k race!

The first was to get a picture with Mr. Pumpkin. This is what I got: a side view of his hat, belly, and cane.

I won't call it a complete failure, but I definitely wasn't with him and you can't see his face. So maybe a semi-success? I do have a good reason though...I didn't have my camera!

I was in such a rush to get out of the house {I just had to bake a batch of muffins before the race and needed to wait for them to finish} that I completely forgot my camera! Ugh. I almost made Ryan turn back, but then he reminded me of my camera phone!

All the pictures I have are from my phone, so they aren't the best, but they're better than nothing! My dear friend Jess was there with Elias {who was dressed up as a pumpkin!!!} and she took some pictures, when I get those I'll post them :0)

You need to see Elias the pumpkin - -he was so precious. Having them there definitely gave me the motivation I needed to finish well. I almost started to cry when I saw them there to support us {Ryan, Erin, Stutz, Warwick, and myself}. She's a true friend.

Anyways....where was I.

We got to City Island at 8am {the race started at 9} and it was just about 40 degrees.

Can you say cold?

Everyone was bouncing around trying to stay warm! The race had a little over 700 participants this year -- that's HUGE for a 5k! The money they raised went to local charities, which is such a blessing.

When the race got started I was so pumped and anxious about making my goal time that I just took off. I knew I was going faster than my normal, but I didn't care.

My dad told me a few days earlier that the race will be over before I know it and I would have wished I'd gone faster, so I just went as fast as I could right from the start. I knew I risked getting completely pooped out at the end, but I'm new at racing short distances and thought if nothing else I'd learn a lesson.

So...I took off expecting the thing to be over like that!

Rather than have the miles marked, they had individuals calling out times.

When I first heard the man call out 7:10 at mile 1 my thought was, HOLY CRAP I've never ran this fast before....I'm going to die. But I just tried to relax and keep up my pace. I thought for sure I was going to poop out!

Then at mile 2, I was around 14:something -- I can't remember. All I know is that it was in the 14's, which meant I was keeping my pace up!

By mile 2.5 I was so tired. I just remember seeing Heather & her girls and Jess & Elias, and wanting to run strong to show them how much their support motivated me. I probably looked like I was struggling, but I didn't care....I had a goal to beat!

I crossed the finish line at 23:25! That's a pace of 7:32!!

Goal #2 {finish at 25:00) = scorched!

I was so freakin' proud of myself. I never thought I'd run that fast! Even Ryan was impressed! He said in the car {when we were trying to stay warm!} that if I came in under 25 he would be impressed, well I got him! When I first saw him he was like "Where did that come from?? You did awesome!!! Oh wow you went really quick!! I wasn't expecting you for another minute!"

I'm not sure if I'm more happy with myself or more happy that I impressed Ryan. I always try to impress that man.

Anyways...getting carried away.

So after the race we met up with our other friends who ran; Stutz, Erin, and Warwick. Together we were a decent size group.

The Fullers...
The Stutzmans...
And us :0D
The hosts of the event announced the top 3 in each age group, then raffled off like a gazillion prizes! It was fabulous, but a little long.

Lilly decided to watch a movie on Stutz while we were waiting.
We all rested, snacked, and tried to stay warm!

I was definitely tired, but didn't feel like poor Charlie Brown looked! Goal #3 = success!

The official results aren't posted yet, but when they are I'll be sure to let you know how we did...with the pictures of Elias the pumpkin too!!

1 comment:

Emily said...

That totally counts as a photo of Pumpkin Man. I can't wait to see little pumpkin Eli!

Way to go speedy Erin - maybe you should just run fast all the time. You keep getting faster!

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