2014 Athlete’s Corner 3 Miler

This past Saturday, I ran a 3 miler with my Kayla, my sister-in-law. I’ve run this race before and was looking forward to seeing their new route!

I didn’t set any expectations before race day and somehow, it seems I always run a better race when I don’t have that “monkey on my back” so to speak…

This race was a small, local event – the crowd definitely seemed even smaller than previous years.

I loved the new route for this race! It was an out and back course where we wove around through a few neighborhoods and returned to our starting location for the finish

I don’t know what got into me on Saturday morning, but I felt great. My knees didn’t bother me, my breathing was under control, and the Frozen soundtrack was blaring in my ears. I kept pace with a dad and his son who were running in front of me. Although overcast, the weather was great and I didn’t stop for water along the course. I tried to keep as close to an 8 minute pace as possible and kicked it into high gear as I neared the finish line.

Official time: 23:53 and a PR for this race!

Someone handed me the number 32 as I crossed. They asked us to write our name and age on the back of the card, then turn it into the registration table.

I knew that Kayla wasn’t far behind me, so I returned to the finish line with my brother to watch for her.  She did great and PR’d! Proud of her!

I knew I had a chance of placing in my age group in this race because there were only 3 or 4 ladies ahead of me.

Imagine my surprise when my brother informed me that my name was listed as FIRST in my age group!!

I might have done a happy dance in the parking lot which elicited a few “she’s crazy” looks from those around us…but I didn’t care! I could not believe it!

We hung around for a few minutes for the awards ceremony, then shopped around in the athletic store where the race was being held. My prize was $15 off anything in the store & on top of that, all shoes were discounted 30%!  Unfortunately, this particular store didn’t carry my running shoe, so I bought Jason a pair of Saucony’s instead….which means he now owes me. :0)

After the race, we had breakfast at Panera (big shocker there, right?) and spent the rest of the day at my parent’s house. I stayed on Cloud 9 all day – what a great way to start a weekend!

Overall, I loved the new race course and will definitely run this race again in the future. I had fun with my family and enjoyed the community feel to this race.

After returning home, I immediately signed up for a 5K this upcoming Saturday. I’m trying not to think about my PR goal because that always messes me up. Instead, I’m thinking happy race thoughts and we will see where that leads!

Guess who else is also signed up for this 5K?

That’s right, Mr. “one and done”!

Proud of my husband! :D

Who else ran a St. Patrick’s Day (weekend) race? How was it?