Sunday, March 16, 2014

Best Ever St. Pat's 5K & Weekly Wrap-up!

It's been a while since I've done a weekly wrap-up! Things are starting (and I stress starting) to feel more like normal around here finally.  Only took 3 weeks from the half to get back to normalcy? In any case, my mileage is lower than it has been, but I ran 3 miles 3 times this week and feel pretty good!  No knee pain at all and my heel/achilles issue isn't getting worse, so that's good.  

I finished up the week running the Best Ever St. Pat's 5k (that's the name of it,  not a personal opinion) here locally and Rey (my husband) ran with me!  It was his first 5K and not only that, but he's only ran a few times ever, before.  I even convinced him to wear a St. Pat's shirt, I think he was too nervous to object.



It was a small race (they are all small around here) in the town over from mine, Rolla, MO.


The trash can is there because they had the street closed and blocked for the St. Pat's parade later that day.  St. Patrick's Day is a huge deal around here.  Rolla, MO. is a college town, and S&T is an engineering college...so they go mad over St. Pat being the patron Saint of Engineering.  I was actually surprised there were not more people running, I think they all waited for the parade, which brought out the biggest crowd I have ever seen in this town of 20,000. 

I ran 1/1 intervals with Rey.  There were a few times it was hard, I really didn't want to walk, but this was just a fun run for me and he wanted me with him.  I know I pushed him a bit, but in the end I told him that he had to tell me to slow down or I would just keep pushing him.  I'm hardcore! I've been sick, so I probably couldn't have gone too much faster anyway.  My lungs were on fire there for a bit.  We had a lot of fun, it was so amazing to have him experience a race with me.

 I was really pleased with the photo that one of the race officials snapped of us crossing the finish line.  I feel bad that I bolted ahead of him to the finish, but I was looking back occasionally to make sure he was keeping up!  I just cannot help myself at a finish line.


After the race we stayed for the awards, I was a little miffed that they didn't have a costume award.  The sign-up made it sound like they would...and I totally would have won.  ;) 

This was an Inaugural race and I thought it was well organized for it's size.  The Chamber of Rolla organized the race to raise funds for the local Veteran Park they are building.  The route was marked well, there were a few cute signs, and lots of volunteers at every turn to make sure no one got lost.  That can come in handy in a small race when you can't always follow a large group of people!
  
 There was one water station at 1.5 miles, which was ample for a 5K and there was only water at the finish, no food, but it was a small race for charity, so I really didn't mind.  No bling or green beer for this race either, but that is the norm around here. None of the races give out medals and most do not have anything special at the finish.  The trade-off is parking literally 20 feet from the start/finish, arriving 15 minutes before the start, no crowds, and no having to weave around people. 
 
We headed to breakfast and then dropped Rey at home and Savannah & I headed back to the parade.  The sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day.  It was a fantastic way to spend the afternoon! One of Savannah's friends met up with us during the parade and they had some green kettlekorn while watching the two hour parade.  Yep.  Two hours!  I told you these people take their St. Pat's seriously! 



Did you run a race this weekend? Do you normally run large or small races?  Do you care if races have medals and all the extras? 

19 comments:

  1. If you want a good St. Pat's, come to Savannah! Last year we had like 300,000 extra people come in to the city, on top of all the people already living here. There's a St. Pat's Committee that meets year round. This year, the party officially started on Friday but my parents flew down here on Monday and people were already coming in for St. Pat's! It's absolutely insane.

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    1. Wow! That sounds insane! I don't even normally celebrate St. Pats but it was a lot of fun this year to join in.

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  2. Congrats on some pain free running! It looks like you guys had a great race and yay for Rey for running with you!! Erik's doing Expedition Everest with me in May and I'm really excited about it! I did get great bling at my race yesterday, but I had to drive over an hour to get there. Local races in my town almost never have bling and the after race excitement is often bananas and water and a 5 minute walk to your car, so not so much different from yours.

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    1. Thanks twinkie! It was fun to have him run with me. I'm not sure how often he'll join in, but it was awesome to share part of something I love so much with him.

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  3. Your outfit is really cute! Congrats to Rey!

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  4. I am so glad you hear you are having pain-free running sessions. That is wonderful news!

    I did not a St. Patrick's day race this weekend sadly. Everyone's photos on FB/Twitter makes me wish I did though! I love that photo of you and Rey. Y'all look adorable and your costume is super cute!!

    I don't mind if a race is for charity and doesn't have a medal or 'swag' in general. It makes me happy knowing that my registration cost is going to a good cause!

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    1. I didn't do St. Pat's last year and remember seeing everyone's photos. It's part of why I signed up this year. Also, I thought it would be good to have a 5K or something to look forward to after the Princess. I didn't want to get in a funk!

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  5. Green kettlecorn????? Sign me up!

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    1. It was pretty good! Apparently I deprive my child b/c she's 13 and has never had kettlecorn!

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  6. Congrats to Rey for getting out on the road with you! I didn't realize where you were in Missouri - I drive by Rolla every time I make the drive from Omaha to my parent's place in Northwest Arkansas. Maybe next time we'll make a detour and come say hi! - Jess

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    1. Yes! I would love to meet up with you sometime Jess, especially since we missed each other at Disney!

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  7. You totally would won for that cute outfit!!!!
    I woulda tripped over that garbage can in the road - guaranteed :)

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    1. Thanks! I don't know how I didn't trip...there were MANY trash cans, that's the only one you can see in this shot. LOL

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  8. AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
    1. I love your outfit!
    2. The girls look ADORABLE
    3. I LOVE THAT REY RAN WITH YOU <3 <3 <3 <3

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    1. 1.Thanks honey!
      2. I'll tell them!
      3. YaY!!! Me too!!! *smooch*

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  9. Congratualtions on getting your other half to run with you. Always a Victory.

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    1. Thanks! It was great to have him share this with me.

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  10. OMG, That is awesome that Rey ran with you! Was it a spur of the moment decision or had we been training? I agree that you totally would have won best costume or cutest couple for that matter! It just baffles me how many races don't give out finishers medals. I guess it's not a big deal but I admit I do like to have that tangible item to commemorate my accomplishment. There are a few races around here that don't do anything that special but the route of the race is the same route I run on my training runs for free, so I usually pass them by. races are expensive so I am kind of choosy...lol

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    1. It was fairly spur of the moment! He had run a couple times (intervals) the previous week and I asked if he would like to run it with me since Dallas wasn't feeling well! I was pretty impressed that he has only run a handful of times and ran his first 5K without really training. He walks a lot though and I think the intervals were what made it possible for him. Luckily the races around here are pretty cheap, I guess that's the tradeoff for not getting a medal. For me I really do love having something I can look at to remember that race, so I wish they would all do it!

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