Overdue Race Recaps!

I have been slacking on the blog lately, but honestly I have a feeling this may be how the summer goes.  I am trying to spend as much time as possible with my kiddos!   Anyway, on to the race recaps...

Mercedes Benz Cotton Row 5k - May 28, 2012


As I mentioned before, I walked this race with my mom - it was her first 5k.  Because I walked it I don't really have a play by play of how it went in my mind (I should have her do a recap and link to it here).  I do remember it was HOT!  But, other than that I don't have anything bad to say about this race.
 GOOD:
 - well organized
 - great packet: had race history and spectator info as well as the bib and other ads
 - nice scenic course
 - great volunteers
 - great course support (2 water stations for a 5k?)
 - awesome spectators, people who lived on the course had their sprinklers and hoses out cooling off the runners
 - they also had spray stations set up on the course
 - there was plenty of food available post race even though we were close to the last ones to finish!
BAD:
 - we moved to the sidewalks to finish as directed when we fell behind after a potty break, we were fine with this, no biggie. It was frustrating though when we got near the end, we had to pass back over the start line to reach the finish.  They were all lined up for the memorial walk so we could not get through easily - we easily lost a minute or two trying to get through the madness.  It would have been great if they would have roped off a small section for racers to get through!

Me and Mom Pre-Race

Me, almost to the finish line

We crossed the finish line jogging and both finished at 1:01:06 (gun time) - this was all about finishing together! My mom beat me with her chip time though - she finished in 1:00:15 and I was 1:00:16. 

To say that I am proud of her is an understatement, she did not do anything to prep for this race - she wanted to give up early on but she kept going, that to meis the meaning of a greatness.

Hare and Hounds XC 5k - June 9, 2012

I have to be honest - I really wasn't feeling up to this race. I haven't been doing so well running in the heat and I knew that this would be no exception.  Add to that the fact that it was mostly on grass with some gravel and you had to jump hay bales.. my ankles hurt just thinking about it! That being said, it was a points race for our local track club so I did it anyway!
 GOOD:
 - nice gender-specific Brooks race shirts (women got pink, men got red)
 - music playing at the start/packet pick up area prior to the race
 - quick and easy packet pick up
 - decent post race spread: water, gatorade, cookies, bananas, and I think there might have been twizzlers and pretzels as well
 - friendly people at the race, I ended up talking to two new people which I normally don't because I am too shy to initiate conversations
 - post race raffle (I missed this because of the late start)
 - the "trail" portions of the race - nice and cool and shaded
 - it was only 5k
 - I didn't die
 BAD:
 - no water station
 - the race started almost 30 minutes late so I was already "dry" by the time the race started
 - the heat
 - the majority of the course was non-shaded
 - I nearly puked at the finish line (and I wasn't the only one... apparently the heat affected others too, I saw at least 2-3 other runners kneeling in the bushes too)

 I ended up finishing in 29:14 - definitely one of my worst showings to date but I finished and some days that has to be considered a success!  I had to walk several times due to the heat and some dizziness (not sure if that was the heat, or leftover remnants of the vertigo?) but I finished strong.

Starting out in the back

Somewhere around mile 2?

I swore I looked cooler than this jumping those hay bales!

Probably my favorite picture form the race

Finally almost done! 

That's it for now, tomorrow I plan to post about my thoughts on why I am struggling with running right now - hoping that some of my readers will have some input and suggestions that might help me out!

Last, but not least... I still have a ton of bondi-bands to sell to raise money for St Jude.  It is super important to me to raise at least $2,620 for the patients at St Jude Children's Hospital.  Please check them out here -> Bondi Band Fundraiser.  If you don't need a bondi-band but would still like to contribute to my fundraising, please consider making a donation on my Heroes Page (I will be announcing a giveaway soon, any donations made after this post will be eligible to win).