My morning started with ZERO excitement.  I was expecting to be so excited that I couldn’t sleep, instead I was struggling to even get out of bed.  I didn’t sleep very well the night before either and was nervous that I wouldn’t be as fast as last year. I really wanted to do my race in under 50 minutes but wasn’t sure if it was possible seeing as I have done little to no speed work over the past couple months.  To top off the anxiety the days prior I had a very sore hamstring which fortunately was cured when I woke up on race day.  I was still not overly excited but got moving in my routine.

I got out of bed, had my coffee, smoothie, banana, oatmeal and liter of water. When I would usually call and scream RACE DAY into the phone to my friends and family I instead pouted to my boyfriend about how not excited I was.  He told me to drink my coffee, blast my music and get excited so that’s what I did. Sometimes all you need a little kick in the butt to get out of a funk.  I had to take a selfie to commemorate my moment of mood change.  This selfie is sponsored by coffee and a kick in my butt.

From there I blasted my tunes, had a little more water, got fully dressed and away I went! My dad decided to do this race with me which was really amazing! I have been really lucky to have him join pretty much any race I suggest.  He will Be running his first half marathon end of May! I may or may not have registered him prior to asking him.

Now back to race day! As dad and I stretched a lady directed me to a much needed quote on the ground.

Its true, the struggle was real but I really needed enjoy the moment.  It reminded me how lucky I am to be where I am and also took some pressure off the time of the race and to enjoy the run. I did just that!

Standing at the start line my excitement started to kick in. My dad was obviously holding in his excitement.

This wasn’t a big race with only about 500 participants but was going to a creat cause. This race raised money for the first responders family, providing support as being a first responder on the scene can be very traumatic.  The route was along the river which is absolutely beautiful.  As they counted down I bounced around and got ready as usual.  I took off slow instead of my usual eager beaver way and tried to enjoy the scenery.

As per usual my first 4 to 6 km’s are the hard part for me, once I get past that I can run forever. As the km signs passed me I noticed that I was really taking my time running my race at about 5 minute km which is a huge difference from my 4:15 10k pace.  I found myself staying at this 5km pace for the first 5 km which was nice as I had another girl running next to me.

FINALLY my competitive edge kicked in at km 6 and sent me flying finishing off my last 4 km’s at about a 430 pace. As I came up to the last 500m I saw one of the girls I coached slowing down.  And by slowing down I saw her have a look around and then start walking.  This was a little extra push for me to catch her.  I ran up to her and gave her a little swat on the arm.  She smiled and uttered something at me, probably along the lines of “I hate you” but all in fun.  Deep inside she is glad I push her!  She got a PR as well!

I really enjoy the feeling of sprinting to the finish line so that’s just what I did.  Crossing the line at 49:15. I was happy I beat my 50 minute goal! As always I wished I went faster but I don’t think that would change no matter what my speed was.

My dad got a PR with a 53 minute 10k! I am so proud of him! I think it is the first time I have ever seen him tuckered out as he crossed the finish line!

As they announced the awards I was so excited hearing my name as second place female and tenth place overall.  What a great feeling and what a great race!

A big thank you to the Legacy Place Society for putting together a really amazing fundraising run.  For more information on what they do you can visit their site at http://legacyplacesociety.com/