Today is Father's Day and this will be the 3rd time my dad and I will be running in the All American 5k race put on by Go! St. Louis on father's day. It's becoming a slight tradition. I buy his race entry, we complete the run and then we go to brunch after to celebrate.
This year was no different...Mom and Dad came up the day before the race and we got up bright and early to head to the start line. It was a great morning...cloudy and cooler than it had been recently so I was excited for the change from the last few weeks.
This race is one of my favorites, it is almost all flat or downhill (just 2 uphills...which aren't bad at all). So it's advertised as the "fastest 5k in St. Louis" for obvious reasons...a lot of people PR on this race (as my dad and I have in the past). Plus it's a point to point race - we start in Kirkwood and end in Webster Groves.
Anyway, back to the race day. We picked up our packets that morning at the start line and got into position to start. I was a little weary and worried since my last few runs at home had not been very fast or successful (lots of having to walk). But either way, I knew it was only 3.1 miles, and it's for fun at this point - we all get a medal and a tank top (new this year!). It started misting, which is fine by me - I enjoy running in the rain, it keeps me a little bit cooler. The gun went off and so were we! I saw my mom near the start taking pictures - knowing she would be heading off to the finish line right away to see us at the end (and since it's a quick race she would have to book it).
Well I started off great, I was feeling good and running quick (knowing I was going faster than my pace), but again, I was feeling good, so I kept going.
At mile 1 I was at 7 min and 30 min (much faster than I had been running by about 2 minutes lately). I found someone that was going slightly slower that I could pace myself with, and followed him for awhile, until we hit an uphill and I was still pumping along. I passed him going up and kept up my pace for a little bit longer. I have to mention that the rain had also picked up at this point, it was downpouring, but still more than a mist at this point. My sweat started mixing with the rain and I couldn't tell if I was more sweaty or wet, haha...but it was nice to have the cool rain coming down on me.
At the next hill I was spent...I was going too fast and needed to catch my breath, so I stopped and walked for a few minutes (not too long, but just enough). I was around mile 2.3 and knew I had less than a mile so I started back up having passed the last hill. I again paced myself with someone still running around 8 min miles (maybe slightly faster) and headed into Webster Groves with the end in sight. After turning a corner I could see the finish, it was still a little bit away so I didn't want to sprint yet, I slowly picked up my pace and when I was within distance sprinted with everything I had left!
Crossing the finish line felt great (as always) and I got my medal. I was very out of breath and wet from the rain and sweat. I grabbed the post race goodies (including ice cream - yay!) and found my dad. He had ran an amazing race finishing in 22:11 (crazy fast).
We finally saw my mom (who had just arrived - after we had finished....oops) and headed back into the open post race area to get in line for the results. We ate our ice cream and stood in the rain.
The line moved fairly quickly and we punched in our bib number...I had finished in 24:42 with a 7:57/min pace. I can't complain - it was much better than I had been running at home. Unfortunately there were a lot of other runners in my age division that were faster than me (as I said, this is the fastest race in St. Louis) so I finished in 14th out of 117 (still - not too shabby). Dad put his stuff in, and although there was a mistake (someone his age had gotten wrong - maybe I put it in wrong when I singed us up). Luckily Go! is amazing and quickly changed it in the system...which made dad place 3rd in his age group! That meant he gets an apple pie for placing...yum! What an awesome additional present for father's day haha.
Overall - it was a fun race, as always, and I was proud of my time anyway!
Peace, Love and Running 🏃
#seejessrun #runtheyear2017 #runningwithoutlimits
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