The Love Run

My friend and I planned to do the Love Run 5K since earlier this summer. This was one of the 5K races that I had on my radar and running it would complete my goal of doing a 5K race each month this summer!  I did Relay for Life 5K in June and the 4th of July 5K in July so it would be only natural that I run this one in August. EXCEPT.....this race did not start till 9 am!!!  In AUGUST! By this time I've been pretty consistent with getting my runs in early and even at 8 am it's so stinkin hot. I just didn't think there was any way I wanted to put myself through this race.  Another downfall was that I knew it was all a trail run  which would definitely impeded my time. So for about a week and a half before, I told my friend I wasn't going to run but I'll come spectate.



Well, Saturday morning came and I was up and out the door by 7:30 am (for my 2 minute drive to the park).  I was having knee pain the day before so I thought I would go do a lap around the park to see how I felt.  I felt great. They had race day registration right there, so I decided to sign up. Because I did same day registration I did not receive a race shirt, but that's okay.


The race took place at Island Park where I often run and walk Baylee, except the race course was not actually in the park at all. It was an ALL cross country terrain course and went all through the woods.  It was a mix of  dirt path and grassy area.  I go to this park all the time so I should have been practicing running this route, but I didn't.

As in any local race around here, it is flooded with students from the cross country and track teams.  These kiddos go out SO fast and I have to remind myself that they are not setting the pace. I need to run my own race!  I did go out a bit too fast in the first mile. My breathing was WAY off and I sounded like one of those little dogs with the pushed in faces that has breathing problems...lol.  It seemed I was the only one wearing headphones so I felt bad for the runners around me who had to listen to me breath!

I shortly settled into a comfortable pace.  I ran the entire time with the exception of a couple steps at the half way point (because running through grass is hard).

By the way, as I was approaching the third mile (that went by the finish line) I saw the first runner come in. He was a high school kid and his time was 19 something!

As I crossed the finish line myself, wouldn't you know that I forgot to stop my Garmin!  Uggh I hate when that happens. I didn't even realize it until I was walking back to my car. Therefore I don't have my official Garmin stats but I did win second place in my age group! So at that point, my time really didn't matter. I was just excited to have placed!



This was my first time placing in any race and I have to say I was glad that they gave out medals instead of a trinket or gift certificate. For a local race, the medals are pretty nice. They are even engraved on the back.  Overall I was really impressed with the organization of this race and they actually had some of the best post race goodies. They had bagels, Nutrigrain bars, bananas. grapes, oranges, baked goods, etc, etc. I had a small bag of grapes and that was it.  When I got home Scott had french toast waiting for me but as usually after a race I can't think of eating too much. I ate it later  that evening.

This weekend is the Color Run at the same park.  I'm not sure if it will be the same course as this race or not. I wasn't planning on running it but I will definitely go to spectate. Who knows, I might end up registering last minute like I did at this race!   -M

24 comments:

  1. How nice that you placed when you didn't intend to run the thing at all! Great job! I'm with you, I love getting a medal for AG instead of a trinket. Altho the pint glasses are kind of nice...

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    1. It's my first Age group award so I was definitely glad it was a medal!

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  2. Love that you ended up running! But running through grass is SO TOUGH. I'm not really sure why, but it's my least favorite running surface for sure.

    Congrats on placing! That's a HUGE deal!!!

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    1. Thanks Jessie! The course was a mix between grass and dirt but the grass was WAY harder to run through and it wasn't even mowed!

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  3. Congratulations! I'm glad you decided to sign up at the last minute! Good decision!

    I'm sure the other runners didn't even hear your loud breathing over their own!

    So exciting that you place on your age group!! Congratulations!

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    1. Well those other runners were so fast that they weren't running beside me for very long..haha

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  4. 9am is late for a Summer race to start! But it looks like it was a shady course. And congrats on the age group award :)

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    1. Yes it was pretty shady and the humidity wasn't as high as it had been.

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  5. Congrats on placing in your race! I agree that 9am is way too late for a summer race to start - even if it's a shorter distance.

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    1. It least it was shady. Had it been a road race it would have been hotter!

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  6. Congratulations!! How exciting!!!! Local races are the best!

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    1. People at are local races are very fast! They take things serious around here..lol

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  7. WHOOO HOOOO! Look at you with a placement medal. Congrats!!!
    I cant imagine doing a race on grass. Not for me. I'd fall - for sure.

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  8. That sounds like a good one. Congrats on the medal too!!!

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  9. That's awesome, Meranda! Congrats on placing in your age group!! :)

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  10. Wow congratulations! How cool to go from spectating to pacing in your age group. The only time I've ever placed in my age group, there were no cool medals like you received. So much to LOVE about your run :)

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  11. Congrats on the age group award! Its definitely nice when they give a medal for that.

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  12. Congrats on placing!!! The first time placing is seriously amazing - it's a shock and makes you feel like, OMG I did that?!

    The medal is so pretty!!

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Fairytales and Fitness is a personal blog authored and edited by us, Meranda and Lacey. The thoughts expressed here represent only our own and are not meant to be taken as professional advice. Please note that our thoughts and opinions change from time to time. We consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind in an ever changing society. Any thoughts and opinions expressed within our out-of-date posts may not be the same, nor even similar, to those we may express today. Some links may contain affiliate links. Some links are just to pages we'd like to share.