Vineyard 5k Race

For the first time, I set a goal for my race.  I was determined to run the 3.1 miles in under 26 minutes.  My last 5k race I completed in 29 minutes, so I was hoping to shave off 3 minutes.  A pretty big goal. 

Well, even though the start was a little intimidating and there were 2 HUGE hills, I made my goal!!!  I crossed the finish line in an amazing 24 minutes and 25 seconds!!!  Woohoo!  I was SO excited.  And amazed.  Apparently, free wine tasting is a great incentive for me to run real fast ;-) 

Here are the results:  Time of 24:25, which is 7:52 pace.  I came in #119 out of 1,218 people.  #5 in my age group.  Very happy with my results today.  It was a fun race.  I ran with Becky again for a majority of the race.  Started with Lesley, but got lost at the starting line.  Since it was an out and back course,  I was able to see her and cheer for her on the course.  And I saw 2 other friends out today as well, Maurea and Heather!  So fun to see so many friends out running!  I love it!!!

And of course, there are pictures...

Pre-race photo with the grape vines in the background.  It was a chilly morning.

 

 The start...holy moly there were a lot of people!!!

You can kind of see me crossing the finish line...

And then after the race, having a little wine...we earned it!

Andy & Becky had invited us over to their house after the race for some amazing smoked pork!  What a great lunch.  So, we bought a bottle of Sweet Texas Red from Delaney Vineyards to have with lunch.  It was like a red dessert wine.  Yummy!  Lunch was great, wine was good (so was the beer), and company was amazing!

Becky & I even took a quick dip in their pool.  I mean, who could resist this...

What a fun day!  And thanks to my 3 favorite boys who came to cheer me on!  Love you lots!  I am a little sad that I don't have another race next weekend.  Today was the fourth weekend of races in a row.  I think I am officially addicted ;-)

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Rockwall's Rib, Rub, and Run 5K

Let me just tell you about my first official race...

Last night, I went to a Dove Chocolate Party and ate way too much chocolate.  But it was delicious in every way possible.  No regrets!  Obviously, I have no self-control when it comes to chocolate!!!  I am pretty sure I was in a chocolate coma and a sugar high all night long!  I am amazed I even got any sleep at all ;-)

I started the morning with a fried egg.

I hate breakfast foods, unless it involves bacon (dipped in syrup), hashbrowns (drowned in ketchup), and/or cinnamon rolls (swimming in cream cheese frosting)! 

Lesley picked me up this morning at 7:15am and we headed to the race.  We were a bit early so we wondered around and smelled all the delicious meats being smoked and grilled after we picked up out race shirts.  YUM!  (I have moved on from chocolate to BBQ as my new food obsession of the moment, if you haven't noticed).  There were so many people set up early...

And this guy was just rubbing those ribs & he was loving it.  I couldn't help but take a picture!  True love!

I was so excited to see the start.

This is my first race since high school.  And in high school, I hated the races back then, which was 10+ years ago....yikes!  That was a long time ago.  I was so not competitive back then and would just find someone to chat with the whole time.  This time, I already had a running partner all picked out ;-)

(We had to to take a pre-race picture before the race...not sweaty, yet!)

I was super excited to see the finish line...

Not sure on the exact time, but when I was crossing the finish line, the clock read 28:52. Way fast for me!  So, I was excited.  My mental goal was around 31:00 minutes, since we normally run 10-10:30 minute miles. It was hot & humid and the course had more hills than expected and it was very narrow.  But we had fun.  And did I mention all the chocolate I ate the night before?!? 

And we were sweaty, but we were smiling...

Then, we had to walked through the bbq cookers again & oh my, did it all smell SO yummy....

But we settled for a nice cold Octoberfest beer instead (since the BBQ wasn't done smoking yet!).  I mean, it wasn't even 10am yet, who can eat BBQ that early? Besides me!?!

It was a fun race, I hope to do it again next year!  But this was the first of 4 races for me in the next 4 weeks in a row!  Yikes!  I started with a 5K, next weekend is a 10K, then my big Half Marathon, then another small 5k.  I can do it!  I hope ;-)

***  Sorry about all the beer/alcohol pictures lately, but it is football season and I am pretty certain that it has been 4 years since I have been able to drink during Cougar Football!!!  (I have always been either pregnant or nursing!).  So, apparently, I am living it up while it lasts ;-)  ***

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We finished the 5K...

Make Tracks for the Zoo-24th Annual 5k Walk/Run

The fire trucks holding up the big flag-it looked so awesome.

All the people at the starting line...get ready, get set, GO!

Dylan & Connor hanging in the jogger before the race!

Connor enjoyed playing on the stairs in Forest Park before the race began.

Connor got to sit in the fire truck after the race -he was loving it!

My goal was to finish the race in 45 minutes!!! Yikes, I thought that would be no problem, until we got the splits, then we decided to run for most of the last mile to make my goal. We made it! We crossed the finish line in 42 minutes! Yah! Connor put his arms up as we crossed the finish line-it was cute. There were lots of people cheering & everyone was saying how cute the boys were. We were tired, but it was a lot of fun. Then we went and walked around the zoo and looked at some animals.

We went to the awards ceremony afterwards & Connor won an attendance prize: a gift certificate to some Frozen Custard place in Illinois. We were hoping for the Cardinals tickets!

We also treated ourselves to Il Vicino (a very yummy brick oven pizza place). It was delicious.

What a great Sunday!

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