May = my lowest mileage all year. Because I feel the need to come up with excuses, I will say this:
1) I ran a full marathon May 3rd so I needed some recovery, right?
2) Wait...I think that might be my only excuse. I sat here for 5 minutes looking at my training calendar and couldn't come up with anything else.
Running miles: 155.37
Cycling miles: 18.5
I guess that number is decent considering my circumstance.
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This past Saturday, I was invited by my BFF, Jackie, to join her company's team for a 5k. I knew I would have to push James in the stroller so I told myself I was going to have fun with it. It's amazing what one can accomplish when they do something for fun!
Under the alias "Stacey Longshore," I represented the momma community well (FYI: I'm not weird and making up names for myself. It's a Scott's Miracle-Gro employee). The announcer said that stroller runners needed to make their way to the back. Stacey (me) thought to herself, "Oh, heck no. I am not trying to maneuver my way around all of these peeps like at the Mommy Mile." I told the lady in charge, in a kind way of course, that I could run a 5k in the mid 20s with a stroller and asked if I could move closer to the front. She was like, "WHAAAT?! With a stroller?!!" What do I look like, chopped liver? She was kind enough to let me start towards the front as long as I stayed to the side of the pack.
And, off we went, on a familiar route starting at Genoa Park. I still felt the need to get past some peeps the first mile before getting deep onto the trail. I set myself up pretty well and had no trouble once we hit the trail. I remember thinking in the first mile, "For someone who is hear to have fun, you sure do feel tired," but then I remembered I didn't warm up so it's my own fault I felt that way.
The route's familiarity allowed me to know when the hills were coming. James and I took them like champs and recovered as needed at the top. There was this one girl that kept going back and forth with us. Surprisingly, I killed her on the hills but, because I was pushing James, I needed a longer recovery afterwards. She seemed to always catch up to me shortly after the hill. This back and forth went on the last two miles of the race. I kind of had the feeling she was annoyed with me.
I was feeling pretty good the whole race except for the insane humidity and few hills. Then came the home stretch. For those of you who did the Scioto Series in March and April, it was a different finish. We ran further down and went under Broad Street rather than up and over it. You've probably done it in one of the other 5 bazillion 5ks they have over there. When you go that route, you have to make a sharp 180 degree turn and go up a decently long incline then another 180 degree turn for the finish straightaway.
As we approached the first sharp turn to go up the hill, I was cheering on my fellow runners saying, "We can do this! This is the last hill!" And then I kicked butt pushing my boy up that thing. I wanted to barf so bad. LOL. As I approached the straightaway, I saw Jackie. I was just trotting along, waving at Jackie and the camera, when I heard Jackie yell, "TEN MORE SECONDS!!!" I looked up at the clock and it read "23:53." That was enough motivation to try and break 24 minutes with my stroller! It's crazy how that "fun run" turns into your own little competition! I thought I crossed as soon as it hit 24 minutes but I had forgotten I started a few seconds back. My official time:
23:52!!!
I couldn't believe I beat my Mommy Mile stroller time! I was the first stroller to cross, 9th woman, and 37th overall. I guess you can't beat that! On top of all of that, I found out the most interesting fact. That lady a few paragraphs up that kept going back and forth with me on the course...it was Jackie's son's babysitter!! I had no clue at the time!
Finally, I would like to make a shout out to Jackie and her 3rd place female finish! Her company also won most creative shirt design which Jackie and her friend Kristen can take credit!!!
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