As I have mentioned a few times, The county I grew up in (and my parents still live in) puts on a 4-part series of 5k races throughout the summer. If you complete at least 3 of the 4 races, you get a t-shirt that says, "I Run This County". I am not sure why, but I really want that shirt this year! The first 5k was in my hometown of Morocco, IN during the annual Homecoming Event. Dustin and I both ran this race, and despite the heat/humidity, finished in a decent time: 26:00.
The second 5k that I did was in a small town called Goodland, IN. You can read the race report here. I ended up finishing that race in 25:08. It felt sooo close to my sub-25 goal, but I knew that I had pushed as hard as I was able to.
This past Saturday, I completed my 3rd race of the series, the Pun'kin Vine 5k. This is a race held during our county fair, which has the same name. I ran this race two years ago in a time of 26:58, and I distinctly remember walking when we got out into the county--the wind was too much for me. I was trying to not put too much pressure on myself to break 25 at this race, and right before the race I even told my parents that I was going to take it easy (yes, my parents came to watch me run a 5k, ha!). :) The race ended up starting about 6 minutes early, so before I knew it, we were off!
Mile 1: In this race, mile 1 is rather strange because it includes 3 small laps of the main part of the fairgrounds. This is slightly inconvenient because many people walk this event, so you end up facing large groups of walkers in your 2nd and 3rd laps. It is a small race though (maybe 100 people), so it didn't end up being a very big deal. I did like doing 3 laps of the same area though because it meant I got cheered on by my mom 3 times as I went past her. :) Overall this mile felt very easy, and although I knew it was too fast to maintain, I was happy to see the time of 7:40. Once I saw this, and knew that I was feeling strong, I decided that I had a legitimate shot at sub-25.
Mile 2: I knew that I had run a similar first mile in the Goodland 5k (I just looked and saw it was 7:39), so I knew how important it was to keep these next two miles no slower than 8:10 each. That would put me around an 8:00 pace, and I knew that would be good enough to come in under 25. Mile 2 goes out onto country roads, and there is a stretch that goes straight into the wind. This is where I walked two years ago. This year, the wind didn't feel too bad, and I was maintaining about an 8:05 pace without feeling like I was dying. I was certainly tired, but I was surprised when my watch beeped that mile 2 was over: 8:06.
Mile 3: We were still on country roads at this point, but quickly turned so we didn't have the wind blowing right against us. I was definitely getting tired at this point, but kept telling myself to just keep going. I noted that I felt much better than at the Goodland 5k, which was a good sign. I looked at my watch quite frequently just to make sure that I was maintaining a good pace. As we got back into the fairgrounds, mile 3 was over with a time of 8:06. Very consistent with mile 2. :)
Last 0.1: I surged as hard as I could coming into the finish. My watch says it was actually 0.15 miles, but I most likely wasn't running tangents very well. The pace here (again, based on 0.15 miles) was 7:14. This was good enough to bring me to the finish line with a time of 24:57! I was so pumped to break 25! Dustin even got it on video.
Note: You'll hear them announce a time of 24:44...they forgot to start the timer immediately when they blew the whistle. :-| Other runners with watches said the clock was about 12 seconds behind, which matched what I saw as well. Also, I will receive my "I Run This County" t-shirt soon. They were out of many sizes, including small, so they were putting in another order soon. You know that you guys will see this shirt in all it's glory as soon as I get it. :)
After the race, we ate breakfast at the fair, and then walked around to see the animals. First up, the barn with the chickens and the rabbits.
Next, the cattle barn.
We also saw goats and sheep, but for some reason I didn't take any pictures. I was very involved in both 4H and FFA when I was in school, and the County Fair was one of the highlights of my summer. It's fun to go back and visit the fair, especially when I can bring Dustin and tell him all about my fun summers at the fair. :)
Any recent PRs that you want to share?
Were any of you in 4H or FFA?
 |
| Running into the finish |
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| Happy with a PR, even if I didn't break 25 |
Mile 1: In this race, mile 1 is rather strange because it includes 3 small laps of the main part of the fairgrounds. This is slightly inconvenient because many people walk this event, so you end up facing large groups of walkers in your 2nd and 3rd laps. It is a small race though (maybe 100 people), so it didn't end up being a very big deal. I did like doing 3 laps of the same area though because it meant I got cheered on by my mom 3 times as I went past her. :) Overall this mile felt very easy, and although I knew it was too fast to maintain, I was happy to see the time of 7:40. Once I saw this, and knew that I was feeling strong, I decided that I had a legitimate shot at sub-25.
 |
| I'm back there in the blue tank top |
Mile 2: I knew that I had run a similar first mile in the Goodland 5k (I just looked and saw it was 7:39), so I knew how important it was to keep these next two miles no slower than 8:10 each. That would put me around an 8:00 pace, and I knew that would be good enough to come in under 25. Mile 2 goes out onto country roads, and there is a stretch that goes straight into the wind. This is where I walked two years ago. This year, the wind didn't feel too bad, and I was maintaining about an 8:05 pace without feeling like I was dying. I was certainly tired, but I was surprised when my watch beeped that mile 2 was over: 8:06.
Mile 3: We were still on country roads at this point, but quickly turned so we didn't have the wind blowing right against us. I was definitely getting tired at this point, but kept telling myself to just keep going. I noted that I felt much better than at the Goodland 5k, which was a good sign. I looked at my watch quite frequently just to make sure that I was maintaining a good pace. As we got back into the fairgrounds, mile 3 was over with a time of 8:06. Very consistent with mile 2. :)
Last 0.1: I surged as hard as I could coming into the finish. My watch says it was actually 0.15 miles, but I most likely wasn't running tangents very well. The pace here (again, based on 0.15 miles) was 7:14. This was good enough to bring me to the finish line with a time of 24:57! I was so pumped to break 25! Dustin even got it on video.
 |
| My splits for the race |
Note: You'll hear them announce a time of 24:44...they forgot to start the timer immediately when they blew the whistle. :-| Other runners with watches said the clock was about 12 seconds behind, which matched what I saw as well. Also, I will receive my "I Run This County" t-shirt soon. They were out of many sizes, including small, so they were putting in another order soon. You know that you guys will see this shirt in all it's glory as soon as I get it. :)
After the race, we ate breakfast at the fair, and then walked around to see the animals. First up, the barn with the chickens and the rabbits.
 |
| I'm not a huge chicken fan... |
Next, the cattle barn.
We also saw goats and sheep, but for some reason I didn't take any pictures. I was very involved in both 4H and FFA when I was in school, and the County Fair was one of the highlights of my summer. It's fun to go back and visit the fair, especially when I can bring Dustin and tell him all about my fun summers at the fair. :)
Any recent PRs that you want to share?
Were any of you in 4H or FFA?
Wow huge congrats, awesome PR!! Way too push through that last 1.1 miles.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! :) I was very excited!
DeleteCongrats on the PR! Thats really cool that you can do the series 5ks. Hope you get that shirt!
ReplyDeleteThanks! They should be ordering me one...hopefully I'll get it soon! :)
DeleteCongratulations! You ran an awesome race! I always get frustrated when having to weave in and out of walkers during races. Haha it's not a huge deal at all but still not very fun:)
ReplyDeleteHaha exactly how I feel about walkers...I feel annoying to complain about it, but it is really is frustrating! Thanks for the congrats! :)
DeleteCONGRATS ON THE PR!!!! So exciting!!
ReplyDeleteI've never heard anyone mention FFA before! The high school I graduated from had an FFA club and the guy I thought I was in looooovvvveee with senior year was the president of our school's club. I didn't even know what FFA was when I transferred to the school my sophomore year and I don't like fairs - but I went to the county fair to see him show his cow (is that the right way to say it?). His cow's name was Brutice and I couldn't understand how he could raise Brutice and then sell him - once you give an animal a name it's basically family!
hahahaha that is hilarious! I was also president of FFA when I was in high school, so obviously I was one of the cool kids. :) :) I never raised animals, but lots of my friends did...I absolutely could not name/raise an animal and then sell it. My friend actually raised a cow once, and the second the auction ended she started bawling. Her neighbor ended up buying the cow from whoever had purchased it and kept it as a pet so she would stop crying haha.
DeleteOh my goodness, that is such a sweet story! What an awesome neighbor!
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