Keyport 5K Recap

Last week, I was so excited for the Keyport 5K, which took place on Saturday, September 21^st.  This was going to be my first regular 5K since June 1^st, which had not been a great race for many reasons.  This was going to be my first race in a new age category (30-39- the toughest, most competitive category if you ask me). My running lately had been really strong. I knew I was going to beat last years’ time of 28:14 and knew I had a decent shot at PR-ing.  This was also going to be my mom’s first timed 5K.  Yup- I was excited. 

My friend, Nicole, was also running this race with us.  Since it was the first race after I turned 30, she thought it was be a great idea to buy me a birthday sash.  She had mentioned the idea to me before. I said I would wear it. I thought she was joking.  She wasn’t.  So after we picked up our packets, pinned the sash to me, hit the porter potty, we rushed to the starting line.  It was there I discovered that one of the covers on my ear phones (Yurbuds) was missing.  Things weren’t starting quite how I intended, but I really didn’t have time to think about it because we were off!

Whenever I start a race, I always wonder “why did I agree to do this again?” It takes a few minutes for my body to get into and my head to remember I actually like running.  At 8:38, my app had told me I hit 1 mile.  I had a really hard time believing that, because 1. I had yet to reach the mile 1 marker in the race and 2. I have been running really strong, but not that strong on mile 1. I turned the corner and heard the woman at the mile 1 marker say I was at 9:14, which seemed a little for feasible.  I stopped listening to my app after it told me I had reached mile 2 at 15:46.  It was also somewhere during mile 2, I got tired of dealing with my headphones that kept falling out of ear. So I decided to tuck one side into my bra.  At that point, all I could think about was how much noise the birthday sash was making!  Before I knew it, we were rounding the corner and I used everything I had to sprint the last quarter mile.  My official time was 27:35 with an 8:53 pace.  I finished 12/50 in my division,  49/187 of women and 120/322 overall.  I missed a PR by 3 seconds, but I beat my time last year by 39 seconds!

After I was finished, I stood waiting to cheer on my friend and my mom as they crossed the finish line. At 31:33, Nicole came across the finish line.  After 50 minutes, they were opening up the roads and those still on the course had to move the sidewalks. Since my mom was walking the race, this made her nervous.  Her goal was to finish the race in less than 50 minutes and to not be last. The clock had said about 46 minutes and Nicole said there is your mom.  Me being me, a big, ole cry baby, I start to cry.  She was going to accomplish her goal! Her official time was 47:24.45. When she was done, I was in tears, gave her a big hug and let her know that I was so proud of her.  She WALKED an average pace of 15:16. She finished 25/30 in her age category, 171/187 out of women and 305/322 overall. 

I left the race feeling great, but it wasn’t for me.  

I was feeling great for my mom. I remember how I proud I was after finishing my first 5K and I knew she was feeling the same thing.  I was proud that she was willing to step outside of her comfort zone, make goals and then crush those goals! Yup, my mom is pretty amazing.