Running While Mommy: Narrow River 5k Recap

On Saturday, I ran in the Narrow River 5k. I ran this race last year and, at that time, it was only my third official race. I like this race for a few reasons. First, it is in local race, just a few miles from my home. Second, it is a mostly flat and fast course. And third, it has a 10am start. My favorite time of day to run is late morning and it is rare when I actually get to do that.

The day before the race, I did a few things wrong. Basically, I ate hot wings, a doughnut and pretzels with cheese sauce. Not all at once, but you get the picture. I also went to bed a little later than I normally do, but I slept really well.

A half hour before my alarm was scheduled to go off, I woke up with terrible pains in my stomach which had me running into my bathroom. Not good! After about 20 minutes, I was dressed and trying to decide if I should eat breakfast. I had more than an hour before I had to leave and pick up Bridget, so I made my usual waffle with peanut butter.

After two more trips to the bathroom, I decided to skip the banana. (sorry for the TMI)

I seriously considered not going but 15 minutes before I was to leave I started to feel better and took a chance.

Bridget lives just a few miles away and I was thrilled to be able to pick her up and drive together. Before this race last year, I knew Bridget just in passing but it was this race that made us friends.

When we parked and got out to get our numbers, the wind hit us and it was cold. I was not prepared for this type of weather but I was fairly certain that it was just here at the beach and not at the start line.

This race is a 5k and a 10k. For the 10k runners, they start and end at the beach. For us 5k runners we are shuttled to the start and run back to the beach.

I decided to just run this race for fun and just see what happens, especially with the way I was feeling. I wasn't sure if I would get a PR, but I was sure that I would get a course PR. Last year, I finished in 35:04, 8th out of the 8 runners in my age group and 64th overall out of 77 runners.

When we took off, I was behind Bridget. She is a faster runner than I am and after 4 1/2 minutes, I was still behind her. She was either going really slow or I was going too fast, too soon, again. My Garmin read 9:31 pace, so I slowed down a bit. Believe it or not, my stomach was doing ok and I was having a really great race. Mile one flew by and I started to think about a PR again.

When I hit 2.6 miles, my stomach started to burn. I was hungry and was wishing I ate that banana. I was also closer to the beach and the wind picked up and I was running into it. I ran as fast as I could despite the feeling in my belly because I just wanted to be done!

When I ran through the finish chute, I missed the clock. I also turned my Garmin off late. I was pretty sure I had hit a PR though.

We headed over to the water and snack table, snapped a few pics, found out that we did not win anything in the raffle and then they posted the results.

I did it! 31:32, 4th in my age group, 24th female, and 57th overall out of 112 runners. Seriously, I am thrilled. These are my best numbers yet!

I have to give a big shout-out to Bridget who place second in our age group and only missed 1st by 3 seconds! Way to go my friend!

On the way to the car, Bridget said we should run this race together every year, now it's a tradition. Yes, I couldn't agree more, Bridget!

Bridget and I after the race.

When I was leaving, I drove out of the parking lot and I ran over an orange cone. I had to pull over and the cop that was helping people cross the street had to come over, stop traffic and he helped me remove the stuck cone from under my truck. That's not too embarrassing.

My family was here visiting for Mother's Day. It was a lovely weekend and we had such a nice time. My kids made me some very special cards that made me laugh and cry. It was a perfect weekend.