The other day I logged in to facebook to see I had an event invitation......oooh what could this be? Turns out my hometown is hosting a 5k run and 1 mile walk over the 4th of July weekend for their 125th celebration. I had previously decided I wasn't heading home for the 125th shenanigans, but now that they've thrown in a race, I'm in! See how easy that is to get me home friends and family? Put on a 5k. Now you all know. :p Of course I snooped on the race competition a little. Should be a darn good time.
I've never done a legit hometown race, as the last one that was held in my town was for the Centennial, and if you do the math, I was...well...one. I mean, check out the sweet logo, it has a farm in the background for goodness sakes. I've already decided that if Nick won't attend with me, I'll ask his dad to come. His dad was a proud Wakondian as well. Three cheers for that.
When I brought up my trusty race spreadsheet to add this gem aboard, I realized that this would race would have me racing 6 consecutive weekends this summer..... hmmm... overkill? Naw...perfection. :) In the great Midwest we don't get the pleasure of racing year round, so I really have to concentrate my efforts to the summer months. Which I don't mind at all. :)
Last night I had a tough 9 miler with 7 miles @ tempo pace of 8:39. For some reason I get really worked up over tempo runs. I never think I can hit the pace for as long as I need to. Running is so much of a mental sport isn't it? I wrote the 8:39 on my hand as a reminder of my pace and I took off.
It.Was.Warm. But in a good way. It was in the 70s, yet there were people in long sleeves and pants...uhh...wtf? My legs
hurt. My calves were tight and my quads felt shredded and I could not find the tempo pace. Every time I looked at my Garmin it was showing my pace ~7:30-7:50, so then I'd slow down a bit and be in the 9:30 range. Somehow those first two tempo miles still came in close to my pace.
I stopped at a water fountain to take in some H2O (yay for water fountains being on!!) and took a second to stretch on the calves and quads. Wow did this make a world of difference, maybe they just needed to run out all the junk that have been in them since Saturdays run, but they felt great. Suddenly my "easy/strong" pace was right in the 8:35 range. After this point the run was just fun.
Bug count: I managed to swallow two bugs *simultaneously*. I'm as impressed as you are. As one flew in and I tried to close the throat a second one followed suit. Blech. Also, I managed to get something moth-like with much larger (and much more noticeable on the tongue) wings. Double blech.
With my final cooldown lap to go, I was walking through the "detour" area of the trail. (This detour is completely made by runners/bikers, and really it's just a very small path through some thin trees. I always walk because I'm not able to lose an eyeball to a tree branch gouging.) As I was walking, a biker came up behind me and asked if this was the trail. And then I realized it was a guy I went to college with that is verrrrrry attractive. We chatted for a minute or two and then went on our way. Of course when I got home, I realized I had 10-15 dead gnats stuck to my neck/chest. Classy Jeri. Soooo classy.
I did the 9 miles in 1:18:26 for a pace of 8:43. My tempo pace was 8:31.
1. 9:33
2. 8:33
3. 8:40
4. 8:32
5. 8:34
6. 8:34
7. 8:36
8. 8:10
9. 9:10
When I got home I was shocked to discover I wasn't craving ice cream. I immediately took my temperature. Jk. I actually had normal food, it was really earth shattering.
This morning I rolled out of bed early to get my 9 mile easy run done so my legs would have ample time to recover before the LAST 20 MILER OF MARATHON TRAINING to be completed on Saturday. I made sure to take the run easy, but was very surprised at how good my legs felt after a tough tempo run 12 hours prior.
Not much occurred on this run, other than the fact that I was scared I would get yelled at by the construction workers for running through the area that was clearly marked with "Bike trail CLOSED! Jeri this means you!" signs. I don't have any problem running through there any other time because it's always after they've left for the day, but I could totally see them getting upset (and rightly so) when they're in there with machinery/tractors/etc. Luckily they were working on the other side so I didn't encounter any danger or yelling. Phew.
I did 9 miles in 1:25:09 for a pace of 9:25.
1. 9:34
2. 9:28
3. 9:32
4. 9:32
5. 9:29
6. 9:33
7. 9:25
8. 9:14
9. 9:17
Saturday morning after the race, was the parade. Nikki's dad owns a painting business in town, so she pulled Miles in a wagon, while he waved a paint brush. Then in the afternoon, we spent some time spectating the sand (more like dirt/gravel) volleyball tourney and again trying not to sweat to death. Miles is a complete stud so of course I had to snap some pics of his cute mug/scowly face. :)
Saturday night was the crazy street dance. I got to catch up with a bunch of my class mates, friends, etc. I was having so much fun I barely took my camera out of my purse. Major fail on my part. I was smart enough to snap a pic of my other best friend, Sheana and I, where creepily enough, she looks more like me than I do. It's bizaaaaaaare. 
