March of Dimes (sort of) race recap

So the March of Dimes got cancelled as you know, and they offered for us to run a 5k today at First Baptist Church Brandon. Someone from March of Dimes was there to sign us in, give us our shirts/bags etc. It worked out well that we were able to do that. I was nervous though as I am a TERRIBLE afternoon runner and this race was at 2 pm, full on sun, no clouds. I am not familiar with this town so I had no idea if there would be hills or not. Boy was I in for a surprise!

It was a small race, it was the first time this church has done it, and it was to raise money for special needs kids. There were a good amout of March of Dimes people too, so I am glad they all got to come run. I was really nervous to start because I knew the conditions were rough and as I said, I didn’t know the course. The gun went off, and off we went! I started off really well. A little too fast, but really well. I was between a 7:20 and 8:15 pace for the first 8 or 9 tenths of the first mile, I felt great, I was happy, it was all good. Then, we turned a corner, and in front of me was the most giant, long, hill I have ever run up. I. wanted. to. cry. I knew my hopes were gone, because I knew the whole race would probably be like this…and it was. the last tenth of two slowed up my average of my first mile to an 8:45. Still great, but I knew with the heat and hills I couldn’t sustain it. I made it up the hill, grabbed some water at the water station, and kept going. I turned another corner….another hill. I pretty much gave up at this point. I mean, I knew I would finish the race, but I knew I wasnt going to ahve a good time, so it was kind of like what’s the point in killing myself. So I just putt putted along at a training pace, going up and down the hills. I later found out after plugging my garmin into my computer the two biggest hills had us going from a 300 ft. elevation to an over 700 ft elevation!!! there were about 3 other “minor” hills and a lot of ups and downs, but I finished.

I got to the end of the race, and there was this man a little ahead of me, but I had a prett good amount of kick. Well, this kid jumps on the course and starts running with him encouraging him. HE WAS RIGHT IN MY WAY! I couldn’t get around him, so I strted yelling “kid, move you ae in the way, get out of the way!” I felt bad, but I wanted to pass this dude! I did pas him at the last second, and then found out he wa the pastor of the churh we were running at, who was hosting the 5k HAHA. no wonder everyone was cheering so loudly! hehe

this is right after. I was NOT happy.

Bobby ran too, and while he did better than me, he also said it was the hardest race he has ever done and he felt bad for me as he was running b/c he knows how much I hate hills ha!

Just to give a smll taste of what we are dealing with. This was coming out of the parking lot, so this is the types of inclines we dealt with, just imagine this but concrete and much longer! One was so steep people were putting their hands on their knees and pushing off just to walk up, like we were hiking!

I have a few more pictures from my regular camera I will post at sme point, but I am too lazy to plug it up to the other computer right now haha! So basically, I am DONE with racing for this season. it’s just getting way too hot. (unless someone REALLY twists my arm!) So I chalked it up to a good hill workout and that was that!

QOTD: Have you ever run a crazy hot or hilly race that was miserable?