The GREAT Pizza Challenge Race Report!!!

I put great in all caps for the title because it was a great race. I got myself a new 5k PR!!! I finished in 45:53...2:33 faster than I did at the Huckleberry Hustle!!!

I had to leave as soon as David got home from work so that I wouldn't be late. He wasn't planning to come along because he would have all three kids in tow (ahem...something that I do everyday) and it looked like it was going to rain. So I headed out all by myself. I didn't even have any friends that were coming to cheer me on. However, I did know that there would be a few ladies from my Crim training group there so I figured that I would just cheer them on when I was done. : )

It started raining right before the race started. It wasn't raining hard...just "spitting" as my Grandpa says. I decided to bring my mp3 player along this time so that I could just concentrate on myself and try to tune out what everyone around me was doing. I made a conscious effort to not start out too fast, although that really wasn't a problem because I got caught behind a few walkers at first. I should also mention that they handed out the t-shirts when you picked up your race numbers so I had to carry that along with me. I had brought my water bottle with me but I left it in the car because I didn't want to carry it the whole race and I figured they'd have a couple water stations throughout the course....WRONG!!! They had ONE water station at what I'm guessing was the halfway point. I was almost hoping it would rain harder so that I could stick my tongue out and get some water that way!

I told myself that I would run until I had listened to at least 5 songs on my mp3 player (about 20-22 minutes or so...which would've put me where I was in my C25K training) but the fifth song that played was a SUPER LONG song...so it could have partly been a mental thing...but I got a little ways past the 1 mile marker and had to stop running. I had been planning to walk through the water stations when I came to them to give me a little catch up breath...but one never came (yet) so I stopped running and then a short time later I came up on the water station...nice! I wasn't sure how long I was going to walk for. I was super tired and I could barely see through my glasses from the rain. The race shirt I was carrying actually came in handy for wiping the rain off of my glasses. I did end up putting my glasses on top of my head for a short time while I walked.

As I came up to the 2 mile marker I decided that I would start running at the 2.2 mile mark (I had a brain fart...thinking that a 5k was 3.2 miles, not 3.1) and try to make it all the way to the finish. When I first started running again I thought...there is no f-ing way that I am going to make it even 30 more seconds let alone a whole mile...but I was coming up on a road intersection that we had to cross and was blocked off my a couple local police cars and the cops were standing in the street making sure to turn cars away. I didn't want to stop running in front of them so I figured I'm make it through the intersection and then start walking again on the other side...but then it started to get a little easier and I didn't feel like I needed to stop anymore.

The closer I got to the finish I just kept thinking 'I can't stop NOW...I'm almost there!' So even though my legs were burning from HUGE HILLS the slightest inclines, I made it around the last corner and I could SEE the finish line. I picked up the pace...at least I think I did...and I thought the official time clock read 47 minutes and I was worried that I wasn't going to beat my previous PR then I heard "GO MOMMY!!!" and I looked over and saw David and the kids! The shoulders of Jacob's shirt were all wet from standing in the rain but he was happy to see me and cheering for me. It was so awesome to see them there cheering me on at the end.

David actually remembered to bring the camera...so I have this one blurry cruddy picture to share with you...right before I finished. I'm only smiling because I saw my family there cheering for me! : )

 When I got closer to the finish line I noticed that the official time actually said 45 minutes 49 seconds!!!! I picked up the pace even more to try and get there before it switched to 46 minutes, but I didn't make it. It was pretty cool out and David didn't put jackets on the kids or even bring a blanket for Isabel so he wanted to get going. I said that they could go ahead and go home and that I was going to cheer for the ladies in my group, get my free pizza (it was gross and cold...yuck) and then leave. Jacob wanted to stay with me so David took Nathan (who wasn't happy to be out in the cold rain at all...not even to cheer on Mommy) and Isabel home and Jacob and I stayed and cheered for my other group members as they crossed the finish line. They were together in a group, but I noticed that one of the ladies wasn't with them. A guy came riding up on a bike to tell the man manning the finish line that there were only about five people left and they were just around the corner. I decided to wait for my last group member to cross the finish line. She was second to last, but she did it and that is so awesome! She is a breast cancer survivor and such an inspiration...and super funny too! : )

When I got home David went on line for me to see if the official race results were up yet...and they were. Turns out the official clock didn't match what my final time was because my chip didn't start my time until I crossed the starting line...so my final time was 45:53!!! That's 2:33 faster than my time for the Huckleberry Hustle!!!