Saturday, February 27, 2010

GLOW Run 5K Recap!

I did it!!! I ran my first 5K Fun Run and lived to tell the tale! And let me just tell you - it was crazy! Who goes running at 9:00 at night? Me and about 1,500 other people, apparently! From the cold temperature of 46 degrees, to the gusty 25 mph north winds, which gave us a wind chill of 37 (but I swear it felt colder), to dodging (and being dodged by) roller skaters, unicyclists, skateboarders, dogs and walkers, I kept running and made it all the way to the finish!

Pictures:Waiting in line to check in...all layered up, which helped my body, but my face was freezing!Me and Jenny - nervous, scared and cold!
Doing the all-important task of making my glow stick into a bracelet while Jenny and her husband, Daniel, watch and freeze.Me, Linda and Jenny - all bibbed up and ready to run! Btw, thanks to the suggestion from Friday commenter Ann, I brought extra safety pins so our bibs weren't flying in the wind!In the "runners" section moments before the run - Linda is giving us some last-minute tips. My hand is on my Nike+ Sportsband, ready to push the button once we start (can you say "raring to go"? LOL)

And then we were off! Jenny and I lost sight of Linda, her son Regan and his friend Hayden almost immediately - there was a huge sea of people and they dashed around them. We tried to keep a slow, steady pace as it seemed like EVERYONE was passing us! It was wild, and I now see why they call it a Fun Run as opposed to a Race, because all of a sudden we were overtaken by the "wheels" group, who were behind the walkers, who were behind the runners at the start. People on roller blades, skateboards and several unicyclists were zipping between and around us and even dogs were passing us - it was a little challenging to keep running while all of this was going on. At one point, a couple on a tandem bicycle rode past us! It seemed like everyone was having a great time - it was a very relaxed atmosphere, and we came upon the one mile mark pretty quick.

Jenny and I tried to keep a steady pace - it was a bit unsettling when some walkers actually passed us (to be fair, they were speedwalking), but we just kept on and eventually ran past them. Another thing that we found challenging were the run/walkers - they would run past us, and then walk for a bit, at which time we would catch up to them and have to run around them to keep going...and then a bit later on, they would run past us again, then slow down to a walk.

It seemed like it took forever to get to the two mile mark - we both swear it was way more than two miles, but as it was dark, I couldn't see my Sportsband to read what the mileage said. We later decided that because we kept having to put on these little bursts of speed to get around people, that was the reason we kinda got pooped out at about 2.5 miles in. Well, that and the fact that we were running into the gusty winds...oooh, that was tough! At that point I had pretty much quit talking, but kudos go to Jenny for realizing that and working to keep me going - she kept up a nice little stream of encouragement, which I needed - where the heck was that three mile mark?!? I thought I'd never see that one! But then we finally saw that AND Linda, who had crossed the finish line and ran back to find us - yay! Jenny got her second wind, and I believe the runner's term is that she "kicked it" - girlfriend RAN that last one-tenth toward the finish! Linda ran with me, and I was able to pick up some speed and FINALLY saw the end and Jeff with the camera - I raised my arms in victory, and finished the run!!!
I'm on the left with my green jacket tied around my waist; Linda is on the grass running next to me - woohoo, my first 5K finish!!!
Same shot without the cropping - I was guessing that the girl in the orange jacket with the yellow tape around her was the finish line...
Then I walked down a path to calm down and whaddya know? Tears came!
The Ironwomen - me, Jenny and Linda, along with Ironboys Hayden and Regan!

After we were finished, we all piled into Linda's huge SUV, which had the most awesome seatwarmers, and drove to our local frozen yogurt place to get our reward. No matter that we were still cold - that yogurt was ours!!!

I have to give a shout out to my husband, Jeff, and Jenny's husband, Daniel, who were our official photographers and pit crew - they held t-shirts and all sorts of stuff for us. Plus they were extra cold, since they didn't run to warm up like we did. And thank you for all of the wonderful bloggy support - the comments and emails have meant so much to me and I really appreciate it, more than you will ever realize. This was a fun thing to do and I can't wait for next Sunday (March 7 - Blogger Run Day™!) to do it again.

49 comments:

  1. I am so bleeping happy for you! What a great milestone. I know in my training (not yet, but hopefully soon) that I'll run a mock 5k or 5k distances, whatever, but I know that I really do need to get into an organized event and make it official.

    Yip yip yipeee for you!

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  2. Terrific! You must be on Cloud 9. I'm seriously delighted for you.

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  3. Way to go. I got a little teary myself just reading about your accomplishment.

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  4. I am soooooooooo proud of you!!!!

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  5. what a great run! glad you loved it!

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  6. Awwww...you cried. That almost made ME cry! I'm so proud of you!! And you looked fab before AND after, despite the wind and cold. I can imagine the amount of face moisturizer you put on before bed :)

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  7. Congratulations on finishing your first 5K -- bet it won't be your last! ; - )

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  8. Congratulations on your first 5K! You are AWESOME!

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  9. Oh man, the weather sounds like half the battle. Congratulations on your awesome achievement.

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  10. OMG that is so awesome! I'm so happy for you! I run my first 5k at the end of April and I'm nervous. It's great seeing someone else do it first. WTG!

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  11. WOW! HOW WONDERFUL! CONGRATULATIONS! I"M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!

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  12. How exciting and fun. That race, er, run, sounds crazy! High five!

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  13. CONGRATS!!! Be forewarned...these races are addictive!!

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  14. So proud of you. I'm actually a bit teary right now myself. Good job, Shelley, and I don't even care what your time was. You did it!!

    So cool how supportive your dh is.

    Thank you for taking us along on your run, and hey, next time it is during the DAY...
    Chrissy

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  15. Great job Shelley! I knew you could do it!!

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  16. Shelley - I am so, so proud of you! Can you imagine a year ago that you would be doing this? What an amazing achievement!

    Here's to the next one (which is???)

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  17. I have to saw that you look QUITE pretty for your pre-race (and post race) pics! Like you were headed out for a night on the town. That natural beauty shining through. Nice darn job...you rocked it!

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  18. Congrats Shelley I'm so proud of you! I thought about you Friday how it would go. You look great on the pics.

    What time did you finish?

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  19. Awww Shelley...I'm crying happy tears for you!!! So very proud of your first 5k....you did it!!! :)

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  20. just found your blog today, CONGRATS on your first 5k!! I'm just starting to condition for my first on this spring.
    Bookmarking your blog...love it!!

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  21. 3 Cheers for you Shelley! Are you hooked on racing?

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  22. OMG! I can't even see the words on the screen! I totally have happy tears for you. Your description of the event was so vivid it was like I was there!! Way to go. You did it!!

    You look good in yellow!!

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  23. Oh Shelley! I wish I could have been there to cheer you on. I'm SO proud of you, girl! You did it!

    Love all of the pictures too. :)

    You're awesome. Congrats to Linda and Jenny and Hayden and Regan too. All of you did great!

    I think you should get an extra goodie bag for having to run in that kind of weather!!

    I'm afraid I'll be one of those runner/walkers next week. LOL It'll be a lot of fun. looking forward to it and I'm a little nervous.

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  24. WAHOO!!!!! Congratulations on running your first 5K! Can you believe it Shelley? Can you flippin' believe you ran a 5k? I hope you never forget that feeling of running across the finish line!

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  25. Congrats on your first 5k! Isn't it a great feeling! Your husband took great pictures of you!

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  26. Hurray for you! And your pit crew! That is a BIG accomplishment and I'm so happy to hear you treated it as such and that you enjoyed it! Frozen yogurt afterward - you're kidding, right? Brrrrr.....

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  27. Oh Shelley, I am so excited to hear about your run. It seems like less than a month ago that you started on your running! You look fabulous before and after. Very stylish running clothes! Will next Sunday have less of the 'obstacles?' I wish I could have been there to cheer you on, and especially to celebrate with the frozen yogurt afterwards teehee!

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  28. Congrats on your 5k!
    That is awesome. :)

    I haven't done one in over 2 years but I still remember exactly how it felt to cross the finish line...& I cannot wait to try another one.

    Best wishes,
    Lynn

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  29. Yes, yes, yes, YESSSSS!!!

    Congrats my dear - you are AWESOME!

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  30. Yay, Shelley!! That's so awesome -- I'm glad you had a good experience. I can't imagine trying to run with all the people on wheels as well as walkers and dogs!

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  31. I AM SO SO SO SO FLIPPING PROUD OF YOU!!!!!!!

    truly.

    Carla

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  32. YAY! Congrats on completing the Fun Run. All races should be "fun." Enjoy the after glow. ;)

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  33. I had no doubt in my mind that you would do great in your first 5k!! You rocked it!!

    So proud of you Shelley!!

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  34. Congrats, Shelley!! No headwind was going to keep you down! You are just absolutely in kick-@ss mode these days - I'm so inspired by your accomplishments.

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  35. So happy for you! Loved the pics. You are such an inspiration!

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  36. Great job, with the wind and chill factor, BBRRR! Your next run will be a breeze. Congrats

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  37. CONGRATULATIONS!!!
    What an awesome feeling you must have had! I'm really happy for you. I can't wait to follow in your footsteps. I've walked a couple 5Ks, but haven't been able to run a full one yet. I'm up to about a half mile before I have to stop to walk. Someday though! Great job and great pictures!

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  38. That is a great time! Plus, I love your new layout (it has been awhile since I blogged on the computer instead of the iPhone!)

    I'll be thinking of you on your run next Sunday while I am on mine!!

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  39. Congrats! You did so great, and damn. Woman, you are glowing and gorgeous in all the race photos! How on earth did you manage that? I look like a wet cat dragged through the mud after I am done running. LOL!

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  40. Awesome! I just can't replicate the feeling of fininshing a race, it just feels so fantastic it is completely addicting!

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  41. How fantastic you must feel, what an accomplishment! Way to go!!

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  43. Those walkers are bitches!
    I'm proud of you.

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  44. You did great and what an acomplishment!!
    WTG!!

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