Reindeer Run 5K Race Report

The original plan for this weekend was to run my December 1/2 marathon in Ashland where I went to college.  Since arriving at this plan, I have started a new training plan for a 2013 goal race so my December 1/2 would fit better if I were to run the Santa Hustle 1/2 in Sandusky on December 16th.  No problem, there was also a 5K option at Ashland so I could still visit my alma mater.  Fast forward and I ran into both childcare and financial conflict so I had to seek out a 5K closer to home and that is how I ended up signing up for the Reindeer Run today.  I have run this 5K two other times.  One year I ran with my best friend Deb and my neighbor Brenda.  The following year I ran/walked it with my daughter.  Yesterday after work, I stopped and picked up my packet along with Kim and Jean's as we were all running the race today.


Race number and jingle bells for the shoes

I had talked with Kim and the plan was for us to meet at her house and she would drive as parking is always a challenge.  Once I got to Kim's we picked up Jean and then made our way to the race.  We had to walk a short distance from where we parked to the start as the parking lot was full already.  As we were walking, I saw Jessica and told her that I read her blog and she said "oh, hi!'  We continued walking and we saw our friend, Michelle, and said hello.  Once to the start line, I ran into my coworker, Danielle, and I talked with her for a few minutes before heading to use the restroom one last time before the start of the race.  I went back into the building to get warm and Kim was talking with a young girl who was running her first 5K and we realized she didn't have her race number yet so I went ahead and grabbed it for her and then Kim and I headed to the start line.  There were a lot of people doing the race so the start was incredibly crowded.  Eventually I was able to find a good pace and go with it.  I clocked mile 1 at 8:05.  I will take it with all the congestion that was going on.  I worked on increasing my pace after the first mile.  Seeing the leaders headed back towards the finish line was definitely motivational.  I had just finished a mile and they were just about done with mile 2.  Amazing!  I continued to try and run a challenging, yet comfortable pace and was happy with the 7:39 on my watch at mile 2.  Shortly after mile 2 I saw Jean on the course and said hello.  As I continued on into mile 3 my knee did remind me it was there when I would lengthen my stride.  I did slow down a bit and clocked mile 3 at 7:44.  With just .10 to go I tried to push it into the finish.  Overall, I did pretty well with that final push at 6:52 pace.  Perhaps the look on my face in this picture tells the story of that last .10 best. 

For the record, I did pass the guy in front of me before the finish line

Of course it's a good thing I didn't have another mile to run because there is no way I would have been able to maintain that crazy pace!  I noticed Jessica as soon as I crossed the finish line so I went up to her and formally introduced myself.  A few seconds later Kim and Jean finished the race.  I also got to see my coworker, Danielle, finish her race.  I knew I hadn't placed in my age group because the ladies in the 35-39 age group are speedy.  I was quite happy with 17th out of 127 in my age group.  Kim and I said goodbye to Jean and headed out for a little cool down run.  About 1/4 mile into it we ran into my coworker, EJ, and we stopped and he asked about my knee and we talked for a bit.  As we continued on with our cool down, the pain in my knee diminished greatly.  I was quite happy about that.  One last hello to another coworker, Kelly, and Kim and I were back at her car with an additional 2 miles run.  Overall, it was a great race with ideal weather conditions!!


3.1 run and done

 Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!