We took on the challenge! Roll call: Me, Cousin and her brother, a friend of theirs, The Cheetah, and VK Sista'! I'm super proud of VK Sista' for doing it. She hates running and she hardly trained for this at all. She just didn't want to miss out on all the fun! And it WAS fun... and complete torture at the same time! I've done 2 half marathons so I figured this would be easy. I was very wrong! But I'll get to that later. FIRST, let me start off by showing you my steps to get ready for a long run in the morning...
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| Step 1: KT Tape |
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| Step 2: Compression sleeves |
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| Step 3: Plantar Fasciitis sleeves |
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| Step 4: Toe socks |
All of that takes me about 30 minutes! What an ordeal!
Okay, so we started with Race #1 called "The Urban Trail" in Tacoma at 8:45am. There were storm clouds around, and patches of blue sky. We were really hoping we'd stay dry. It rained hard while we were in the car on the way there, but the sun came out when we got there. Here's some pics at the starting line:
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| Me and VK Sista' Selfie |
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| Me and VK Sista again (I like this one) |
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| VK Sista, friend, cousin's brother, Cousin, Cheetah, and me (with some princesses mixed in) |
We raced through downtown Tacoma, even getting on to the freeway for a little bit. We started out going downhill really fast and I think my pace was kind of crazy with all the excitement. The Cheetah starts out at the front of the line because, well, she's a freaking cheetah and she actually has a chance to win something. She was long gone by the time any of us even crossed the start line. Cousin and VK Sista' were right in front of me, and her brother and another friend were behind me. I tried my best to catch up to the girls but I had this little freak-out where I had some gunk in my throat and I couldn't breathe and was gasping like I was swimming or something. I slowed to a walk and even gagged and stopped for a sec. I thought I was going to puke. I was thinking "Oh man, and I still have 3 more 5Ks to go after this! Breathe!" I walked up a little hill and cousin's brother caught up to me and we jogged along together for a little bit. I had another little gagging freak-out thing and then he pushed off ahead of me too. I crossed the finish line and my garmin still said I had a quarter mile to go and I saw Cousin and her brother running off the opposite direction. I figured they must have had the same problem so I took off after them until my garmin said I completed 3.1 miles. A lot of people were complaining that the race wasn't a full 5K. Oh well, we did a 5K anyway. Cheetah came in 2nd or 3rd place for women overall... I can't remember which. I just know she was trying to beat a girl who she said had "fast sunglasses" and when I saw her pass me once, sunglasses girl was behind her. Hooray.
Everyone made fun of me for bringing a giant cooler full of water bottles. I also made PB&J for everyone and a giant bag of cliff bars, kind bars, and other snacks. I'm a mom, what can I say? But they all said, "They'll have water at the end of each race." Well, no water. No snacks. Nothing. Complete disorganization. Who's making fun of me now? :)
We walked back to the car and did a little yoga on the sidewalk before we got in to drive to the next race...
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| VK Sista, Cousin, Me, Cheetah |
Race #2 ""Run the Puyallup" was in Puyallup at 11:15am. It started at the fairgrounds. VK Sista' drove our party car while Cheetah navigated. It was crazy trying to get from race to race because so many streets were closed off. Again, complete disorganization. They should have given everyone a map with the best route to get to the next race. We made it to the parking lot at the fair grounds and we had a bit of time to kill. Waiting around was the worst, we were bored and our muscles were getting stiff. We made the best of it though and we had fun and laughed the whole day. Laughing is an extra core workout! Here's a pic from the start line of the race in front of the fairgrounds...
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| Me, VK Sista, Cheetah, Cousin, her brother |
The start line was right outside the orange gate and we started with a run through the fairgrounds. Again, Cheetah was long gone, and Cousin started out strong and I didn't think I could catch up to her either. VK Sista' and I kept the same pace going through the fairgrounds and the boys were behind us somewhere. Here's a pic of VK Sista' and I near the roller coasters...
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| VK Sista' and me |
As the route exited the fairgrounds I felt really good and picked up speed and left VK Sista' behind. I had a goal to catch up with Cousin! I didn't look at my garmin but I knew that my pace was really good. I wanted to PR this baby. I caught up to Cousin at the turn around and high-fived VK Sista and the boys a little while after we turned the corner. It started to rain a little but it felt really good. I paced Cousin all the way back to the finish line. Cheetah was there being our cheerleader encouraging us to sprint to the finish. Well, the timer at the finish line said 25 minutes when I crossed. I knew this was a strong run for me but there's no way I ran a 25 minute 5K. I looked at my garmin and it said I was at 2:46 miles. WTF! How disappointing. 2 "5Ks" into the day and not an actual 5K yet! Cousin said, "Let's go!" and we took off through the front gates of the fairgrounds again. A security guard shouted, "The race already went through there!" And I said, "I know! We aren't finished yet!" Like... Try to stop me dude! Are you going to run after me and kick me out? Because I'm booking it through here! I circled around until my garmin said 3.1. I PR'd at 33:50! I would have gone even faster if I didn't stop at the finish line when I thought I was done and looked at my watch and started off again.
As we were exiting the fairgrounds again, we stopped to talk to the security guard. He said, "Did you just do the race twice?" I told him no, we just had another half mile to go and wanted to finish a full 5K. He said that they re-routed us through the fairgrounds because there was also a car show going on in there and they didn't calculate the distance correctly. Grr. Again, complete disorganization. Ya know, we paid $80 to do this stupid thing. We were getting annoyed. No water, no snacks, no directions. Not to mention we were doing 4 different races with one bib #. We should have had a new bib # for each race and we should have gotten a small medal at each one, and a bigger one if you completed all 4. Just my two cents.
Back in the car again! Cousin's brother got in their friend's car behind us so VK Sista's car turned into the girl's party car!
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| Cheetah, Cousin, Me, VK Sista |
Again, we had some time to kill when we arrived at the next race. We all brought a complete change of clothes, so we decided we'd change and freshen up half way through the day. I even brought facial cleanser wipes. Ahh. Heaven. Then we ate sandwiches, snacks, made some AdvoCare rehydrate and spark... and laughed a lot. I think we were delirious. We were getting really tired and our muscles were tightening up again. But this gap wasn't nearly as bad as the others so far.
Race #3 was called "Race for Rhubarb" and it started in Sumner at 1:00pm. I figured I already PR'd for the day so I'd just comfortably jog this one. Cousin was having some crazy allergies. (We joked she was probably allergic to daffodils.) So she went off to find some tissue so she didn't make it into our pre-race shot...
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| Cheetah, VK Sista, me |
Sumner is pretty adorable. It was a nice jog through really cute neighborhoods with houses that look like they belong in New England. Made me miss living in Salem, Mass. (Not that I don't always miss it.) Again Cheetah was out smashing records and beating everyone. Cousin was a good quarter mile ahead, the boys were probably a good quarter mile behind, and VK Sista' and I paced this whole race together chatting about the cute stores, houses, and churches. The fun thing about doing all these 5Ks is that we all did them at the pace we wanted. We gave good luck wishes at the beginning, and cheered each other on at the end. It was a lot different than doing a whole half marathon and making sure you stick together the whole time. I loved doing that for our long races, but this was very different. Not to mention it's been a while since I've done a 5K. The last mile of this race seemed to last forever. VK Sista' said, "The only reason I'm still running is because you are." I figured we ran this far, why stop to walk now?
We saw Cheetah cheering us on at the finish line again telling us that we're almost there and to sprint to the end! I yelled, "Is this really a 3.1 this time?" And she shouted back that it was! I crossed the finish line and my garmin said 3.09. I jogged just a tiny bit past it until it said 3.1. Close enough! It was about time we had an actual 5K for the day!
I talked a friend into coming to the gym with VK Sista' and me on Thursday and we kicked her butt. I told her she should sign up for her first 5K and to choose the last one of the day so we'd be super exhausted and she'd kick our butt. So she met us at the finish line to drive to our last race together.
Race #4 "Final Stage of Glory" was in Orting at 3:30pm on the same trail I ran the half marathon last weekend. We did more sidewalk yoga, ate more snacks, and tried to stay awake. This gap was the worst of all. This whole day was just a completely different kind of endurance. It reminded me of riding the STP except with gaps that suck. We had to continue to eat foods that would fuel us for the next race when all we really wanted to do was stop and have a beer, and celebrate how far we've made it. It was sunny and gorgeous out, and about 20 minutes before the start time, it started hailing while we were sitting in the car. Fantastic! The hail stopped almost as quick as it started and we dragged our tired butts to the start line...
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| Cheetah, VK Sista', me, Future Cheetah, Cousin |
My ankles were not happy with me at the start of this race. My friend who I am going to start referring to as "Future Cheetah" took off like a crazy runner. Woo! She was rocking her first 5K. Cheetah was determined to beat "fast sunglasses" so she could place 3rd in womens overall. When I saw her there were only 2 women in front of her so I told her she was kicking butt and cheered her on. VK Sista' and Cousin took off down the trail while I walked here and there. It started to hail again. It actually wasn't that bad. They were tiny little balls of hail so they didn't hurt when they hit me, and they just bounced off so I stayed dry. Rain would have been a lot worse. I jogged along the best I could being so sore and tired. I was playing leap frog with these women with Jeff Galloway Run/Walk T-shirts on. One girl's garmin would beep and they'd run for a bit, pass me, and then it would beep again, and they'd walk and I'd pass them. After a while I said, "You mind if I join you and do what you're doing?" They said of course I could, and we adopted another lady pushing a stroller too. We walked for 30 seconds, and ran for 45 seconds all the way to the finish, chatting with my new friends. They're going to be at the Tinkerbell Half too so maybe I'll see them there. My pace was the worst for all 4 races, but who cares! I finished! I got a well-deserved shiny new medal at the end of the race...
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| Me and Future Cheetah! So proud of this girl! Her first 5K ever was faster than my 5K PR! |
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| I freaking love this photo of Cheetah at the finish line. Placed 3rd Womens Overall! |
After we finished, cousin, her brother and friend said goodbyes and congrats, and left. VK Sista, Cheetah, and Future Cheetah went back to the car to change again and walked to the beer garden. Oh, that's another big difference between doing this event and doing a straight half marathon. So, for a 1/2M... I go to one place, I park, I walk to the start-line, I run for 3 hours-ish. And then I walk back to the car and I'm done. With this whole crazy thing, not only is there a lot of down-time in the car, but there's a lot more walking. We have to park pretty far from the start-lines, walk around to find bathrooms, etc. My garmin said I walked 17.6 miles this day. Crazy. We deserved a beer for sure...
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| Future Cheetah, me, Cheetah, VK Sista' |
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Me, Cheetah, VK Sista'
Here's the screenshots of my times from Strava for each 5K: |
In conclusion... It was a blast, and it was torture. We had a lot of fun, a lot of laughs, and a lot of crazy weather. I'm never doing it again!
