Courir du Festival 5K

Every year in a town about an hour away from mine is a festival...they call it the International Festival or Courir du Festival. They have bands from all over the world come in to play, different types of cuisine from different parts of the world, etc. Reminds me a lot of the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot (except I didn't drink any wine or anything like that! lol)!

Our running group participated in a 5K there. I woke up Saturday morning VERY nervous. My husband was working and I was worried about having to drive out of town by myself in the RAIN! That's right...horrible weather was predicted for that entire morning! I was really scared and I didn't know what to do! I had already registered for the race and paid for it so I decided to go.

I met up with my running group at 5:30 a.m. and we were on the road by 5:45 a.m. There was only one incident where a wreck almost occurred on the interstate but God is good and all is ok. We were able to caravan safely to our destination(we had about 7 or 8 cars in our caravan). I wasn't sure how I was going to do in the race with my nerves and the predicted bad weather so I just decided to go and do it and whatever I got was whatever. I was wearing a bracelet I got in New Orleans from the Team 413 booth. I know running is all a mental thing so I decided that any time along the route I wanted to stop and give up and walk, I would tell myself, "I can do ALL THINGS"....you can DO this! I wanted to see if my strategy would work! LOL

Guess what? It only rained a LITTLE bit off and on during the drive! YAY!

So we got there, we checked in (I forgot I signed up on Pay Pal so my last name was my Maiden name and I got race #1!!!) LOL We stretched, then we took a warmup run. We did about a mile or so. It was funny as we all came around the corner, the cop put on his lights and he started on his intercom "THE RACE HAS STARTED THE RACE HAS STARTED!" We had to inform him that we were just warming up! LOL There were about 15 or so of us!

Before the race, it would get dark, then it would get light, then it would get dark again and rain a little, then it would stop. Surprisingly, we didn't have ANY Rain during the race (around mile 2 I wish it would have sprinkled a little! LOL) AND I didn't have ANY rain on the drive home (the skies were blue with NO clouds!)!!



Me with my #1! LOL



My friend DeeDee



This is my friend Adam. He's the one that scared the bageebees out of me last weekend when we were running in the dark! lol



Running Group picture!!!



All lined up and ready to go!!!!



Off we go.....I was glad I didn't have to weave too much...I started pretty close to the front...

The course was great. I wasn't too sure how I was going to do because it is unfamiliar territory. It was also very hot and MUGGY outside with only a little breeze! Around mile 1, I was already needing water. Of course, there was none to be found! Around mile 1.75, I thought that water wasn't going to be a part of this race and I just knew I was going to DIE! lol But YAY at mile 1.80, there was water. It was not good water, though! It was WARM! UGH!! Oh well, I took a few drinks, walked a little, then kept on pushing. Now if you remember, my PR from my last race was 28:06. I wanted to hit 27:59 so bad I could taste it! I've done hill workouts, track workouts, and training runs all in an effort to increase a little in speed. I know my rough points in a race. It's after mile 2. I run out of gas. That's why Saturday, I had the bracelet and the mind thing going on (I CAN DO ALL THINGS!!!)! I definitely hit a low point after the water station. I walked only about 15 seconds then kept on going. I wanted to walk again SO BAD but I wouldn't let myself. I CAN DO THIS I CAN DO THIS is what I kept saying over and over again. I even had to take the earphones out because I couldn't concentrate! lol Anyway, we had run a little of the route on our warmup so when I saw Garfield St., I knew it was only a little further and I had this. Time was 25 minutes so if I kept on course, I'd get 27 something....

I rounded the corner and I heard our base coach yelling. I also saw the finish line but it was pretty far down the road. (Ignore the time here...this was taken WAY before I made it back in! lol)



I knew I was almost there. I wanted to vomit so bad. I know that is gross but that's how I felt. I had no circulation in my legs or my arms....my body felt like mush...



I kicked it up somehow and I crossed the finish line in.......

27:39!

HOLY COW was that right?!?! I had to look twice! Then I had to check my Garmin to make sure they didn't cheat us any distance in this race and NOPE...it said exactly 3.10 miles! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanted to scream and cry and laugh all at the same time! I would have jumped on my husband had he been there but I had to curb my enthusiasm and keep it to myself cause I didnt' want everyone to think I was a crazy person! I couldn't find any of my running group people for a while .... then I spotted DeeDee!



She was back over by the base coach. I ran and gave her a huge sweaty hug! lol I DID IT!!!! She was excited for me!



After the race, we watched a group from New Brunswick. They were entertaining even though I couldn't understand a word they said! LOL

One of the girls in our group came in first overall in women's and our running coach got 2nd overall! Woohoo! Great job, ladies!



I didn't place but it sure felt like a #1 in my book! LOL

Goal #1 met: PR sub 28...
Goal #2: Place in my age category (we'll see if I get that this year or not...lol)

I met up with friends for lunch after the race, then I came home. My brother and SIL were in town so we all had dinner together! We went to Wal Mart and I found a penny in the driveway! Must have been my lucky day!!! LOL