Ocean Drive 5K
Sunday, March 29th
4:00am: Rise and “shine”... yes on my day off I get up at 4am so I can drive the 2 hours to Cape May/Sea Isle City, NJ to run a 5K.. ok before you go calling up the men in the little white jackets... there is SOME logic to my madness.. I am the driver taking my friend Denise to run a Marathon. The Marathon runs from Cape May, NJ to Sea Isle City, NJ.....and so while I was down there.. I thought .. WHAT THE HECK.. run the 5K....
So you are probably wondering why... I am not running the marathon.. I mean seems kinda odd huh? ....That I would pass up this good ole opportunity to thrash around my legs a bit ...Well .....somehow over the last few months I fell in love with short distance and now have an aversion to anything over 13 miles...
KIDDING... I am just trying like hell to be good... I think I over raced and overtrained a bit at the end of last year and well this new year I wanted to work a bit more on my speed and shorter distance races...
5:00am: I am out the door by 5am..on my way to pick up Denise ... its drizzling, wet....cold, and I’m tired...and it’s SOOO early.
6:00am: I wonder who else is up at this time on a Sunday morning??...I pick up Denise and off we go.
8:00am: It's quite foggy ... gee where "diss" come from?? ...The winds were blowing quite good, about 13 mph... should be a nice tail wind for the marathoners as it was coming from the south.. Denise was not too fond of my weather wind observation... sticking my finger in the air.. yup coming from the south... she will be happy to be rid of me.
It was kinda cool ...kinda creepy with the fog rolling over the sand dunes.. and I thought how lucky I was NOT to be running 26.2 miles... I only had 3.1 miles to run when I get to Sea Isle. My race starts where Denise’s would end... so once I dropped her off I would have to high tail it to Sea Isle about 30 minutes or so away.
8:10am: What would a story be without drama...?>>> I wanted to wait until I made sure she had somewhere to wait inside for the start of the marathon and they did.. they had a nice inside waiting area.. so after she got settled I turned the truck around and headed to Sea Isle.. or so I thought... OK... well that’s a strange detour... round and round.. and back to detour again.. and around and around.
8:30am: they had already coned off the road ways.. making it IMPOSSIBLE for anyone to get outta Cape MAY.. WTF!!!!!....a bunch of us kept riding around in circles.... like is there only one main road out>....??? GRRRRRR
After about 15 minutes I was ready to bust a move through the cones when one of the traffic cops in an all pissy ass mood.. started flipping off the cones out of the way and moved his car so we all could LEAVE.. yes... BYE BYE... on my way to Sea Isle... I started to think again .. jeez.. what a LONG way this is... GLAD I AINT DOING THAT MARATHON!
9:00am: When I arrived at Sea Isle it had started to rain again... and proceeded to rain, mist, and winds blow... what to wear? ...I SO love running in the rain and would rather run in shorts than leggings ..as leggings get soaked easily... so I opted for shorts and short sleeve shirt.. BUT A FULL WINTER HAT AND GLOVES>..
I did my normal warm up of about a mile or so light jogging and then some stretches and then right before the race some sprints and leg lifts... to get me ready... and I had peeked the curiosity of a young lady who I believe looked to be a high school runner. She appeared either to be checking out the competition or wondering what the CRAZY OLD lady is doing..
10:00am: At the start I lined up as close to the front line as I could.. which was actually like the third line.. but it was the first line of females.. I figured this would also prevent me from going out too fast... WRONG.
I easily am enjoying life until about 400 meters down the road... that’s when I realize HOLY SHIT and a half.. you cannot run in the 5’s and even expect to finish.... the winds were brutal but I took some advice that Joe gave me about drafting behind some people.. and I did .. I drafted behind a guy for about three quarters of a mile until he pulled away leaving me alone to the wind.. it was NICE while it lasted.. I RECOMMEND that you do this anytime you can. The young gal that I mentioned before was drafting off of me.
The girl who ended up winning, past me at mile 7... and the second place winner a little after that.... it took me almost all of mile 2 to “catch my breath” and I wasted that mile... on the way back I had the help of the wind to push me into a very good third mile. I pushed with everything I had and felt like I was running in slow motion by the time I got to the finish line.. yes the thought did cross my mind on NEVER RUNNING AGAIN EVER.. but that passes once my heart rate returned to normal and I stopped gasping for breath. RUNNING IS FUN..HA UGH
10:23am: Although I did not PR.. I was pleased with my 23.45 finish. Now to change and wait results. I knew there were about 4-5 gals ahead of me in the race.. the two that passed me and then this speed demo
n who got me on the turn around... and so I knew there was a good chance I had placed.. but I was very pleasantly surprised to find out I placed 1st Female Masters.. very nice.(Sea Isle)
11:40am: Before I knew it the marathoners were starting to trickle in ... I was soo enthralled with watching them come in as I had never had been on this end of the spectrum.. I am always in the marathon never watching... so it was utterly fascinating to see.
1:00ish: Denise came in...finished her marathon..I was soo proud of her.. the fact that she did it.. she dug deep and found it within her to finish even though her body had given up a while back.. that’s a true marathoner..
*****
Followup: So whats next... well I am going to keep on training and now its April and there are SOO many fun races to choose from... and then there is back to the grind with biking and swimming as the Half Ironman is coming up in June... and then there is Javelin practice.. Sigh....whats a girl to do!?
PS: They have my results as 23.54.. pisses me off.. I didn’t stop my watch until AFTER they took my bib tag off and I was clear of shoot.. my watch stated 23.45.. I am going with my score.. d-mn old woman who was manually clicking our times... !!
Ocean Drive 5K Results
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Kutztown 5K
Saturday, April 4th
5:00am: The forecast was calling for winds of 25 mph and gust up to 45... I shouldn’t be surprised... I have done this Kutztown’s 5K Fools Run three times and each year it’s either freezing, raining, and/or windy. This year we got only two of the three.. the cold and wind... I should be grateful.
8:00am: Didn’t do much of a warm up this time... usually I run about a 1 mile warm up.. and do some stretching and leg sprints... to get these old bones awake... but this time, I spent the time talking to my daughter and her friend Amber..I figure I was not too overly concerned with the outcome of this race.... Win or Lose... I just had to get it over and be done with it.
I had mixed feelings about this race... Never really cared for the course.. a little too hilly for me.. but it's always nice to visit Heather's College...and she “made me” sign up. It was her last year at Kutztown and she somehow convinced herself to run it and said I should.. yeah ok.. I am a sucker for races.. what the hell.
Joe had originally planned to attend too... but decided a nice warm bed and sleeping in was a better option... smart man..... So here I was sitting in my truck waiting for the start of the Fools Run...
8:45am: The wind was almost comical... you had to just let off a little scream into it.. e-gads.....as I was waiting for the race to start, I positioned myself next to a rather large sign to block some of the wind...a man who was the school reporter comes over to me to ask me some questions... Heather is watching this interaction from across the road... Amber said, "OMG is you mom giving that guy her phone number".. UGH.. too funny...
So I proceed to answer the reporters questions.. AND YES HE WAS THE SCHOOL'S REPORTER!!! Name...spell that please... no this was not my first year doing the race, third... . what did I like the most about the race... SILENCE .....(there was a GREAT BIG VOID OF SILENCE)... I kinda looked away... thought a moment.. looked at the reporter.. laughed.. more silence.. and said, “I HATE this course, its awful”... the guy's eyeballs almost popped out of his head...
I said don’t write that (OMG I am thinking..but I am just being honest)... I then proceeded to tell him I was running because my daughter went to college here and so on and then so on..that it was CHALLENGING.. yes challenging... . and that I had won the Female Masters Award the last two years and I guess I am back defending my title...
YIKES.. didn’t think about that.. I didn’t really want to worry about duking it out with anyone today.. but it was said.. it came out.. and was placed in the wind so to speak. About now it was time to go.. and I needed this race to be OVER WITH... !
9:05am: I lined up near the front with Heather and Amber ...and off we go... things went well for about 100 meters or so... and then the first rather large gust of wind hit us.. I think it about moved me a few inches sideways... I was hoping to draft off a larger person.. but people were too scattered so I just kinda made myself as small as possible and went with it...was almost like running in place at times...
At the first hill I noticed that a lady was running near me and then pulled ahead on the downhill... I didn’t really give it much thought as we were still less than a 1 mile into race. But I did pass her back right before mile one.. TAKE THAT.. !
9:12ish: Since my head was down most of the time trying to be “SMALL” because of the wind I had trouble seeing how many women were ahead of me on turn around.. I did see one youngster but didn’t see much after that... on the turn around I noticed that woman ..who I had passed was BACK...!!!....I’ll call her the hitcher...... out of my peripheral vision ...darn... she’s strong..
9:19ish: After the turn around the road grades up slightly and up slightly more and just when you think it can't keep a going up... you turn a corner and VIOLA.. there is a big ole hill in the way... sigh... HATE THIS hill.. done this two other times.. didn’t want to have to do this again....So glad this is my last year for this race.. and GOD BLESS the people doing the 10 miler.. JEEZ no way !!
So at the base of the hill I tell myself well you have two choices.. One .. you can run it.. or Two .. you can be a big ole baby and walk... hmmmm....NO way am I going to listen to that if I walk and Heather passes me.. yes Heather and Amber were somewhere behind me ...not sure of how far but let’s NOT find out.
As we start the hill the hitcher runs beside me.. It appears we are running the same pace... half way up hill she drops back... ok.. I chug up... I can hear her labored breathing.. she still there... as I crest the hill, it takes me a few minutes to collect myself to get the breathing back.. to find my legs.. and the hitcher sails past me... and she get a good 20 meters ahead... NOTE TO SELF: work on hill crest repeats..
I keep an eyeball on her... she keeps this 20 meter lead for about a ¼ mile... I am just watching... not getting any closer but certainly not falling back... the wind for some reason is STILL NOT at our backs. This sucks.. but kinda used to it.. I don’t think I have done a race yet that the weather was perfect... or even close to near perfect.....
9:27ish: As we get back into town and head to finish line I noticed that I had picked up some meters... the gap was closing... and this is all I needed to know.. either she was slowing down or I was speeding up... so I sped up more... the gap now was less than 3 feet.. I hung there... knowing full well that if she did not put a move on that I would wait until the last possible minute and sprint.. with hopes that she would not sprint with me.
I KNOW she knows I am still back there.. but I still try to hide my labored breathing and breath softly... I almost run up the back off her.. its too soon for a sprint but I cant risk anymore.. I power past her in full tilt.. she let out a sigh.. I HATE THAT.. because I know how she feels and I feel bad passing her but it’s a race ... and so I let it all out.. and she doesn’t come with me.. I do hear someone coming.. I think it was a young boy so I pick it up even more just in case.. .. my garmin clocked me at my fastest during this sprint in the high 4’s.. my legs going fall the F@#& OFF...I almost couldn’t stop when I hit the shoot... this is when a parachute most certainly would have come in handy.
Final time 24.32.. Better than last year and first female masters.. my hitcher was also a masters runner and came in 5 seconds behind me. Heather and Amber came in about a minute behind us. I had to walk a bit to get my legs shook out but I felt good... I was glad to be done.. glad it was my last Kutztown Race.. and glad that I didn’t give up when I saw the hitcher pull away after the last hill. NEVER GIVE UP... !!! You just never know... !!
I was kinda bummed though that I didn’t get a medal.. you know how I am about the hardware.. I got a gift cert for $25 for a running store in EMMAUS.. where ever the hell that is... I am not ungrateful.. really the race people do a phenomenal job... I love the afterwards soup, bagels, and the care they put into everything... I ended up being third overall woman.. and first female masters...
Heather was first in her age group of 18-24 and Amber was first in her age group 25-29.
Hopefully by the time you read this they have corrected results.. results were correct 15 minutes ago then some boob messed with them.. even though they didnt offer awards for top three overall just top one overall.. and top masters.. they put me as third female...and I GOT THE MASTERS award... idiots.. I wrote them an email... JEEZ US.. !
(Heather accepting her award)
It's time to rest the leggies a bit .....before next week’s half marathon in Cambridge!!! SIGH... UGH... It’s what I love about the sport... I think I would be bored to tears if I didn’t program so many races into my schedule... although I have been much better this year.. last year I would be running a 5K tomorrow too.. NOT going to do that this year...!!... I am behaving...
PS: the hitcher came up to me after the race and we chatted a bit.. she was 51.. didn’t look at all 51.... In fact I thought she looked in her 30’s.. thank goodness I didn’t let that fool me! She said she had wanted to beat me really bad. That I could relate to. HEY MAYBE SHE CHANGED RESULTS>> HA! At least it still says I was in front of her!!! :)
(Heather & Amber with their awards)Kutztown 5K Results
