In the greater Tucson area there is at LEAST one 5k each weekend, as much as I would love to do a 5k every weekend its not quite in the budget, so I have to pick and choose which races I want to do. When the Tucson 5000 came on my radar I knew immediately it was something I was going to do main reason, it was at Reid park..and Reid park is where the Tucson Zoo is! It all fell perfectly together in my head, take the kids up to Tucson run the 5k play at the park, go to the zoo, eat lunch at a yummy tucson restaurant, hit up the new costco they built right on the interstate and head home. PERFECT day for me and my kiddos. At first I was thinking this race I was going to have to fly solo my running buddy was supposed to be at drill weekend and I thought my husband was going to be on a work trip. Luckily it worked out they were both free that weekend and I somehow convinced my husband to wake up at 415 so he could come watch the kids so I could run stroller free and try to keep up with the running beast that is jenny ray.. Jenny’s cousin was up for training and was joining us, which is awesome because when it comes to running the more the merrier… and the best part she designed custom tees for us! It had our names on the front and numbers on the back… they had their kids birthdates but since I had two kids I went with the number 41 the ages of my kids. We had never thought to design t shirts for ourselves so this added some extra excitement to our race.
Of course I had just come off a vacation to the east coast and my lungs hadn’t quite adjusted back to the 4,700 ft elevation of Sierra Vista (elevation where I was in Vermont was like 750ft) and my plan was to at least stay under a 12 minute mile (seems easy for all you hard core runners but remember I’m a turtle trotter ;p) At least it was a beautiful morning, nice and sunny and was still under 70 degrees as we hiked up to the start line… Yes hiked… we saw it was getting close to race time so we started following the crowd from the park to the road… once we got to the road the crowd kept going… and going…
Well we finally reached the start and moved to the middle of the pack, and to the outside so we didn’t get tripped, there were a LOT of people out. Why wouldn’t there be? The race pamphlet boasted a pancake flat course; great for PR’s… ha we would see about that…
The gun went off, without much warning its usually “runners mark, set BANG” or at least “runners set BANG” but this one was more like “runners.. BANG” and we were off… I made sure to start slow and steady (used to be hard for me but now that’s why I start in the middle) my Garmin said about 10:30 minute mile and I knew that was a good pace for me. I stayed right with jenny and Tabitha even around the first bend despite the fact I was distracted by a barefoot runner… as in barefoot, NO shoes… on the road! I figured he had to be crazy and then I realized he was wearing a US Marine’s t shirt and realized that if he was in fact a Marine he was in fact crazy and it explained it all to me…
After the first bend I started to fall behind, mainly because there were SO many people squished together in a small running area… the threat of being DQ’d if you stepped outside the lines wasn’t keeping people in such tight running quarters.. it was the fact we were running right on 22nd St, a very busy road where cars zipped by in their own little world. I tried to keep them in my sight but its crazy how many females were running in white and or black shirts that day, they ended up blending in with everyone else. But I had my goal in mind and my Garmin to help me stay on track, I randomly glanced to it and saw I was keeping between a 1030-1045 pace, NICE I was feeling good as I chugged along I figured I couldn’t be too far behind them if I kept up that pace.
Of course after we hit the second turn I felt myself slow down a little bit but I tried to convince my legs to stay at the same pace…. I went into my own world and thought I was successful until after my Garmin chimed for the 3rd time letting me know I had hit mile 1.5, soon after it started making a nasty clanging sound… letting me know I had dropped to slower than a 12 minute mile pace… so I picked up the pace as I realized quite a few people were passing me, no worries about halfway into it and I was still feeling as good as when I started.
And that’s how it was until I reached a hill… or well incline… or mound…either way it was a noticeable UP slope in the ground… what happened to pancake flat?? My legs showed their fatigue at this point (or rather my mind let them feel it) because as soon as I moseyed my way up it they felt it, and of course my Garmin yelled at me again…luckily it was over soon enough and I focused my mind back on enjoying the run and keeping up my pace… then I realized… I forgot my IPOD!! It was in the stroller with Victor and the kids…. I think I had a HUGE frown face on but I told myself that I had made it over halfway without it I could make it the rest of the way.
And so I went, this stretch was the longest stretch it felt, I was trying to figure out where the turn was going to be when I noticed a police officer holding traffic from afar, as well as a row of runners branching to the left… YESSS I turned the corner and crossed the street and was happy to hear my Garmin chime off another half mile bringing me to the big 2. Not sure what street I was on now but I was on a running path and it was open, I felt myself picking up the pace a little bit as I could take in the sun my Garmin yelled at me occasionally but I felt ok picking up the pace. Especially when I made it my goal to pass this annoying couple that I kept playing tag with, they would run pass me, then walk, then I would pass them, etc I finally said you know what!! You walking that’s fine but you sure as heck will not end up beating me ;)
Finally I got to make the final turn back onto speedway where the race had started. This was essentially the home stretch, only turn left was back into the park where the finish line was…I think I started losing my steam as my gamin seemed to be yelling at me more frequently…. I was fighting the urge to repeatedly check my Garmin to see how far I had gone so I started playing games with myself, find an object, sign, stop light whatever and tell myself that I couldn’t check my Garmin until I reached that mark, it helped me keep up my pace and stopped me from basically starting at my Garmin. Finally my Garmin rang off the 3 mile mark as I came to what had been the start line.. I could see people turning into the park at this point and I could see people milling around that had already finished the race. I slowly started to pick up my pace, my legs were really starting to feel heavy at this point, but I wanted to finish strong (the ONE thing I am really good at is finishing strong).
I passed the walk run couple AGAIN (for the last time) and as I turned into the park the finish line seemed a LOT closer then I had remembered so I started running as fast as I could. There was a clump of about 5 runners approaching the finish and I told myself I was going to pass all of those people… I really pushed it out and I was able to pass the cluster, and I didn’t stop there, I ran as fast and hard as I could as I passed two more people and made it across the line in 35 minutes… I was so happy I was able to finish so strong but a little disappointed, 35 minutes is DEFFINETLY not a PR for me, but I was able to stay under at 12 minute mile pace which was really my goal.
My disappointment was short lived as a guy came bolting past me after he finished and cut me in the finishers corral despite the fact the volunteer yelled at him 3 times to stay in order after coming across the line… I know I came in faster and even if his number made it before mine in the list its what I knew that mattered.. BUT I’m not the kind of girl you try to cut after the finish just cause I smoked your socks the last 50 feet… I kindly jumped in front of him while holding my elbow out… I looked back smiled sweetly and said you are SUPPOSED to stay in order homey!
Jenny ran the race in under 30 minutes, at about 29:45 a definite PR for her, and I’m soo happy and proud of her (I keep telling her she is holding herself back keeping up with me!) and her cousin finished closely after her at a little after 30 minutes.
We had a blast the rest of the day, enjoying the zoo, and we had brunch at the cheesecake factory. I was able to go to Costco my favorite place in the whole world, and the best part I was able to spend the whole day with my family, a rare moment since my husband is forever on the road for work…. a day that will not soon vanish from my memory ;)
Of course here are our before and after pics ;)
Of course I had just come off a vacation to the east coast and my lungs hadn’t quite adjusted back to the 4,700 ft elevation of Sierra Vista (elevation where I was in Vermont was like 750ft) and my plan was to at least stay under a 12 minute mile (seems easy for all you hard core runners but remember I’m a turtle trotter ;p) At least it was a beautiful morning, nice and sunny and was still under 70 degrees as we hiked up to the start line… Yes hiked… we saw it was getting close to race time so we started following the crowd from the park to the road… once we got to the road the crowd kept going… and going…
Well we finally reached the start and moved to the middle of the pack, and to the outside so we didn’t get tripped, there were a LOT of people out. Why wouldn’t there be? The race pamphlet boasted a pancake flat course; great for PR’s… ha we would see about that…
The gun went off, without much warning its usually “runners mark, set BANG” or at least “runners set BANG” but this one was more like “runners.. BANG” and we were off… I made sure to start slow and steady (used to be hard for me but now that’s why I start in the middle) my Garmin said about 10:30 minute mile and I knew that was a good pace for me. I stayed right with jenny and Tabitha even around the first bend despite the fact I was distracted by a barefoot runner… as in barefoot, NO shoes… on the road! I figured he had to be crazy and then I realized he was wearing a US Marine’s t shirt and realized that if he was in fact a Marine he was in fact crazy and it explained it all to me…
After the first bend I started to fall behind, mainly because there were SO many people squished together in a small running area… the threat of being DQ’d if you stepped outside the lines wasn’t keeping people in such tight running quarters.. it was the fact we were running right on 22nd St, a very busy road where cars zipped by in their own little world. I tried to keep them in my sight but its crazy how many females were running in white and or black shirts that day, they ended up blending in with everyone else. But I had my goal in mind and my Garmin to help me stay on track, I randomly glanced to it and saw I was keeping between a 1030-1045 pace, NICE I was feeling good as I chugged along I figured I couldn’t be too far behind them if I kept up that pace.
Of course after we hit the second turn I felt myself slow down a little bit but I tried to convince my legs to stay at the same pace…. I went into my own world and thought I was successful until after my Garmin chimed for the 3rd time letting me know I had hit mile 1.5, soon after it started making a nasty clanging sound… letting me know I had dropped to slower than a 12 minute mile pace… so I picked up the pace as I realized quite a few people were passing me, no worries about halfway into it and I was still feeling as good as when I started.
And that’s how it was until I reached a hill… or well incline… or mound…either way it was a noticeable UP slope in the ground… what happened to pancake flat?? My legs showed their fatigue at this point (or rather my mind let them feel it) because as soon as I moseyed my way up it they felt it, and of course my Garmin yelled at me again…luckily it was over soon enough and I focused my mind back on enjoying the run and keeping up my pace… then I realized… I forgot my IPOD!! It was in the stroller with Victor and the kids…. I think I had a HUGE frown face on but I told myself that I had made it over halfway without it I could make it the rest of the way.
And so I went, this stretch was the longest stretch it felt, I was trying to figure out where the turn was going to be when I noticed a police officer holding traffic from afar, as well as a row of runners branching to the left… YESSS I turned the corner and crossed the street and was happy to hear my Garmin chime off another half mile bringing me to the big 2. Not sure what street I was on now but I was on a running path and it was open, I felt myself picking up the pace a little bit as I could take in the sun my Garmin yelled at me occasionally but I felt ok picking up the pace. Especially when I made it my goal to pass this annoying couple that I kept playing tag with, they would run pass me, then walk, then I would pass them, etc I finally said you know what!! You walking that’s fine but you sure as heck will not end up beating me ;)
Finally I got to make the final turn back onto speedway where the race had started. This was essentially the home stretch, only turn left was back into the park where the finish line was…I think I started losing my steam as my gamin seemed to be yelling at me more frequently…. I was fighting the urge to repeatedly check my Garmin to see how far I had gone so I started playing games with myself, find an object, sign, stop light whatever and tell myself that I couldn’t check my Garmin until I reached that mark, it helped me keep up my pace and stopped me from basically starting at my Garmin. Finally my Garmin rang off the 3 mile mark as I came to what had been the start line.. I could see people turning into the park at this point and I could see people milling around that had already finished the race. I slowly started to pick up my pace, my legs were really starting to feel heavy at this point, but I wanted to finish strong (the ONE thing I am really good at is finishing strong).
I passed the walk run couple AGAIN (for the last time) and as I turned into the park the finish line seemed a LOT closer then I had remembered so I started running as fast as I could. There was a clump of about 5 runners approaching the finish and I told myself I was going to pass all of those people… I really pushed it out and I was able to pass the cluster, and I didn’t stop there, I ran as fast and hard as I could as I passed two more people and made it across the line in 35 minutes… I was so happy I was able to finish so strong but a little disappointed, 35 minutes is DEFFINETLY not a PR for me, but I was able to stay under at 12 minute mile pace which was really my goal.
My disappointment was short lived as a guy came bolting past me after he finished and cut me in the finishers corral despite the fact the volunteer yelled at him 3 times to stay in order after coming across the line… I know I came in faster and even if his number made it before mine in the list its what I knew that mattered.. BUT I’m not the kind of girl you try to cut after the finish just cause I smoked your socks the last 50 feet… I kindly jumped in front of him while holding my elbow out… I looked back smiled sweetly and said you are SUPPOSED to stay in order homey!
Jenny ran the race in under 30 minutes, at about 29:45 a definite PR for her, and I’m soo happy and proud of her (I keep telling her she is holding herself back keeping up with me!) and her cousin finished closely after her at a little after 30 minutes.
We had a blast the rest of the day, enjoying the zoo, and we had brunch at the cheesecake factory. I was able to go to Costco my favorite place in the whole world, and the best part I was able to spend the whole day with my family, a rare moment since my husband is forever on the road for work…. a day that will not soon vanish from my memory ;)
Of course here are our before and after pics ;)
