St Paddy Day Run Tacoma 5K Recap

Ready to head down to the race- thumbs up if you
love racing in the snow! 

Saturday morning I woke up early and immediately ran over to look out the window in my bedroom.  It was dark and I was fairly certain it was pouring.  Just to be sure I headed out to the front door, opened it and sure enough- it was definitely raining.  And cold.  After a nice hot shower I got myself dressed in my carefully laid out race outfit and headed to the kitchen for a pb and j sandwich.  It was starting to get light out and guess what else?  It was snowing.  OF COURSE IT WAS!!!

Devan hanging out in her green attire

I was suddenly confused about whether I would be warm enough- I would be standing around in the pouring rain/snow for probably 2 hours or so, and my actual running time would only be 25 minutes or less.  At the last minute I ditched my running skirt and instead put on my lululemon tights under the sparkle skirt and hoped it would work out.  I grabbed my garmin, ipod, headphones and a banana- we were out the door at 7:40am.  And by 'we' I mean hubby and kids too.  A miracle, only 10 minutes after my intended time to leave!  We headed downtown and scored the sweetest parking spot EVER- right across the street from the meeting area and within sight of the start/finish line. 

Some of the ladies trying to keep warm and dry before the race.
Top row:  Jane, Mel, Kim, Chelsea and Alma
Bottom row:  Jamie, unknown (sorry!), Julie, Jill and me!    

I was really happy to have picked up my race packet the night before -the line was really long and those poor runners had to stand in the pouring rain while waiting.  If I had known I would have just grabbed everybody's packets for them.  Now we know for next time though.  Anyways, I met up with some friends and Team Will Run for Ice Cream members a block down and we were huddled there staying as dry and warm as possible.  We took a few photos but it was tough with the horrible weather. 

Brian found me before the 10K started.  It was his birthday!

The 10K was scheduled to start at 8:43am but the packet pickup line was still really long so it was delayed by maybe 15 minutes.  I wanted to warm up with a few minutes of running so Kerrie, Zoe and I jogged around the block a couple of times which helped a bit.  I still couldn't feel my fingers- dummy me I didn't think about grabbing gloves!  Soon we all headed over for the 5K and lined up right around the 8 minute pace group and we were sent on our way. 

Sooooo Coooooold!

As a general rule I never listen to music during a 5K, but I decided I might like the distraction this time.  I checked out jog.fm and found 4 songs with 175 beats per minute or higher that I liked and that was my playlist.  Short and simple but I like them all enough that I actually wanted to hear them twice.  Here are my songs:

1.  Stronger (Kelly Clarkson)
2.  Sorry for Party Rocking  (LMFAO)
3.  Untouched  (The Veronicas)
4.  Misery Business  (Paramore)

I think I prefer to not have music for a 5K, I don't really feel like it helped me too much and I kind of wanted to rip the earbuds out as I was heading up the final hill because the music was irritating me and I couldn't concentrate. 

Kerrie, me and Alyssa

The 5K start.  I am somewhere behind the man in a full body green nylon suit. 
You know you can find him!  And yes- that was all he was wearing. 
And he was really fast.

Anyways, mile 1 was a slight downhill -I wanted to keep my pace around 7:40 and I also didn't want to slip and fall!  I had to do just a bit of weaving in the very beginning but nothing too bad.  I got passed by a guy wearing jeans and a tshirt- how uncomfortable would that be, especially in the rain?  I was feeling great still and I could almost feel my fingers and toes again.  Mile 1-  7:33

Mile 2 included the turn around- that meant we were halfway done!  I also noticed that there weren't really too many runners ahead of me but my pace was dropping and I was having a hard time keeping it at 7:45 (my ultimate goal pace).   I passed Alyssa on my way back, as she was heading to the turn around- she wasn't too far behind me.  Mile 2-  7:46

Mile 3.  Oh mile 3, I have been dreading this mile since I found out they altered the race course.  It is uphill, not entirely- but gradually and continually.  And then in the last half mile- it is just a hill.  I caught up to Mel in that last mile and came up next to her and touched her arm so she would know I was there, she seemed in a daze.  She smiled at me and I thought she said "not much farther" and I said "Just a half mile!" (I really couldn't talk, but somehow managed that!) but she really asked me HOW much farther- her garmin had died at the start of the race so she had no clue her pace or distance!  She was matching my stride so I was hoping we could finish together but she had a sideache and faded back and I just kept trying to get up the hill in front of me without losing my pb and j!

Mel and I just after we finished- I do not even remember this being taken! 
Can you say dazed???  Oh, and sorry girl in the truck changing behind me :)

DONE!!!

I scored an awesome high-ball glass and button, grabbed a banana and an energy drink and discovered I was actually kind of warm even though I was completely drenched.  That didn't last long though and I was quickly back to being cold.  Thank goodness for running tech fabric though- my lulu tights dried incredibly fast.  Eventually all of our friends found us and we decided to head to The Rock for some food and warmth.  But not before checking our times of course!  Guess who got a PR???  This girl!!! 

Official Stats:
Time- 24:30
Pace- 7:54
Overall place- 103/1698
Female- 22/1184
Female, age 30-34- 4/215   That's right, I placed in my age group!!!

Several of my friends did really well also- Kerrie placed 2nd and Mel placed 6th in our age group.  Alyssa and Alma took 3rd in their groups and Brian placed 7th in his group for the 10K.  There were also quite a few PR's set so despite the weather (and hill) we all did great!  I didn't realize I would get a ribbon for 4th place so I didn't pick mine up- insert sad face here- but hopefully they will mail it to me.

Two soaked ladies, a half eaten banana and some honey buckets!

Jill, me, Chelsea, Mel, Kerrie, Lolo and Zoe

You can tell we are a bunch of distance racers because (duh) The Rock was not open at 10am in the morning so we ended up at The Harmon instead.  Our races usually take a bit longer than half an hour!They had the perfect table for us, but only minimal staffing.  And they were quite busy.  So our breakfast was a 2 hour event but I enjoyed myself and had a good time chatting with everyone.  And the coffee cocktail and beer were pretty awesome as well. 

Aside from Kim's hubby stealing my omelet (haha) it was the perfect ending to a great race.  I feel very lucky to be included in this fun group of ladies!  Can't wait for the next one.  Now back to half marathons for this girl, I currently have SEVEN on my calendar.  Yes, seven.  I think I need to order a half fanatic hoody sweatshirt stat!!!