Got Grit 5k Recap and Badass Mother Runners

So, today did not go as I had planned.

Please Ryan. Hold me.  (Source)

                                                

I was a little nervous going into today since my running lately has not been as consistant as I would have liked. But I had a couple of good runs this week and I had read that the second half of this race was downhill. I was feeling ok this morning so I was hopeful I could achieve my "A" goal of 33 minutes. The first mile was rolling hills and I think I managed them ok. There was a lot of weaving since it was a family race. There were a lot of kids who would just come to a complete stop right in front of you.

Mile 1: 10:36  Pretty good by my standards

Mile 2 fell apart on me. My head got in the way telling me there was no way I could finish the hills and still run 2 more miles. I stopped to walk a couple of times. 

Mile 2: 11:52  Arg.

Right around the halfway point the downhill portion started and that was glorious. It was fun and I felt strong.  But then after they flattened out my mind started being a little bitch again. Telling me I couldn't keep up the pace. I started to struggle and was discouraged when I saw that I was not going to make 33 minutes. Running was getting more and more difficult. Especially as I saw my "B" goal of running faster than my last 5k (33:54) slipping away as well. I stopped to walk about 500 feet from the finish. But I decided that was ridiculous and ran to the end.

Mile 3: 10:06 Oh hell yeah

Final time: 34:30  Avg pace 11:07

So when I was done I was all...

Wahhh! I didn't run good!

After a few minutes of pouting to Brent, the good running endorphins started taking over and I started thinking about the good things. The weather was amazing. And I am able to run. Maybe I am a slow runner, but I run and I have fun doing it. Today was fun. Then I was all...

Yay! Running makes me happy! Even crappy runs make me happy!

Overall, the race was small. But it was pretty well organized and the course was great. The race swag was pretty decent as well. Instead of a shirt we got a hat and some socks.

So after dusting myself off and getting over the fact that I did not PR in this race, I headed out to Raleigh to the Ramblin' Rose Triathlon expo to meet Sarah and Dimity from Another Mother Runner.  If you are not familiar, these ladies are the co-authors of my two running bibles - Run Like a Mother and Train Like a Mother. They host a pretty active Facebook page for women/mother runners who like me are trying to be better runners and to balance that with the demands of work and family life. It is truly a great group of women. The support and camaraderie is amazing. Sarah and Dimity also share podcasts with even more great tips and discussions.

So I made the 40 minute drive out to Raleigh to meet them. I was a little nervous, but they were so incredibly nice and we had a nice chat before they gave a little talk about running and triathlons. They were great and it was totally worth the drive.

Dimity and SBS, my (tall) running gurus.

So that was my day. A lot of running stuff going on which makes me happy. The weather was awesome and I spent the rest of the day playing with the kids and Brent on the front lawn. Fantastic!

And just because I think this Tumblr site is hilarious I leave with this:

Thank you, Ryan. I am a runner.