turkey trot 5k, shutterfly, & early bday gift!

and for the 16th time (spoiler alert!) i did not get 22:xx in the dreaded 5k distance. ive even been doing core strengthening exercises which my chiropractor swore if i started doing i would get it (see if i ever trust him again... OR do any more core exercises. waste.of.TIME!) what i didnt account for was dead out sprinting in colder air than im used to (lets be honest, my runs lately havent exactly focused on "speed work"). add in the fact that i started off too fast (yet again, apparently i NEVER learn... hi 6:15 pace coming out of the high school), the wind in our faces from mile 1 to 2 (awesome), and again feeling like i had bronchitis coming up the last hill to the 3 mile mark, and we have you another 5k fail. end of story... but ill give you a little more just for shits & giggles.

this race has always been tough, with a downhill start and an uphill finish (who freaking designed THIS route?!) two years ago i went something along the lines of 7:05, 7:45, 9:12. EPIC third mile fail (this was the year i vowed never to do 5k's again, and since then ive done 11 more. i dont listen to myself too well). last year was a little better, but not by much 7:32, 8:00, 8:46.

i made sarah start on the starting line with me, much to her dismay. the race has timing D-tags (who uses D-tags anymore?!) but no starting mat (i KNOW!) so if i was going to get my exact time, i sure wasnt starting somewhere that was going to cost me a couple of seconds (we all know i wouldnt handle that well). mind you i know im not a "start of the pack" runner (the winner of the race finished in 16:15), but there i stood anyway. right after we took off i heard sarah scream behind me "i do NOT run this fast!!" hehe, well thanks for not leaving me alone up here! like i mentioned before, i took off like i was being chased and when i checked my watch it read 6:15 pace. whoops.

this race is in my hometown and my grammy (from illinois) is staying with my mom and dad for awhile so they drove up to the town center so grammy could watch me race (it was her first time spectating one of my races!). i knew they were going to be at my dentists office which is right around the first corner of the race, so i made sure to stay on the left side of the road so they wouldnt miss me. as i turned the corner i saw my mom and started to yell up to her. then i saw my dad with his camera (i have yet to see what those gems turned out to look like), and then my mom motioned to grammy in the van that i was coming. she saw me and she started waving like crazy with a huge smile on her face. of course i teared up and started blowing her kisses. it was a really special moment for me and her as well. (she just celebrated her 90th birthday).

so of course that started the whole "when you cry during races you cant breathe" thing, but i quickly got myself together and sprinted on. just before mile 1, jamie came up beside me and said "just maintain 7:20s and youll get it". i thanked her and told her good job, and she went up ahead. as i looked up at the mile 1 clock ahead of me it read 6:58. so much for consistent 7:20s.

mile 1: 7:11

we ran into the wind until the turn right before mile 2 (always fun). i think i had already given up on 22:xx idea at this point, but thought maybe just maybe there was a chance, so i wasnt going to risk it (since i did just bank time on that first mile... BAD way to think, i know). as i approached mile 2, hollie passed me (but apparently didnt recognize me), so i called out her name and we chatted for a few seconds.

mile 2: 7:40

then we went up the first hill... yuck. i looked at my watch and knew i had to kick some ass (since mile 2 was significantly slower than mile 1). then it was a slight downhill before another uphill. i really felt like walking up the last hill into the final stretch, but i gave it all i had (which was killing my lungs). as we turned into the school i saw the mile 3 clock read 21:30 but knew i still had over 0.1 to go (read: i MUST work on speed work).

mile 3: 7:59

i crossed the finish line in 23:41 (no it didnt take me 71 seconds to run 0.1miles, i dont need speed work THAT bad... the clock was still a ways ahead of me when we got into the school). i felt defeated once again... but it is what it is. ill get it at some point (as if you all thought i wasnt still going to try, HA!)

0.1 miles: 51 seconds (8:30 pace... ok yeah, need some speed work)

overall: 112/603
25/342 female
7/53 age group 30-34

i drank a few beers later on that evening and forgot all about it (of course ill be doing another 5k before the year is over) and then two awesome things happened this week which made me smile:

1. molly had a shutterfly card giveaway and i won! i never win anything, so of course im psyched! (although ty doesnt want to use a wedding pic for our holiday cards this year cuz "it was a YEAR ago" he says... yeah. THIS YEAR. ahem. (not my fault we got married on 1/1/11). this is the only year we can actually USE a wedding photo as our holiday card. hrumph. we'll see what happens.

and

2. the UPS guy came to MY house today and had something for ME!! eeeeeven though its not technically my birthday i decided to open it anyway. (dont worry, i texted cassie to see if she approved. she did) (side note, gift was from her, i didnt just call a random and ask)

its from thirty one!!

omg i am SO in love. obvs. love my best friend so much :)