Faith Support Ministry 5k and the World Wide Festival of Races

I kept waffling between running the FSM 5k at Cabot and the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Little Rock all week. Decided on the Cabot race because it didn't start until 9 a.m and I could sleep later!! It was a great little race! Annette, Jane, Michelle, and a few other cruisers ran it too so it was very nice having a smaller race where you could socialize and cheer each other on without having the crush of a larger crowd. The only downsides--there was one of those invisible inclines that felt like it was never going to end for the first mile or so and it was HUMID!!!!!!! Even with a warmup I was having some trouble with my breathing because of the humidity.

1st mile was just under 8 minutes, 2nd mile was 16:06, no clue what the 3rd mile was and finish time was just over 25 minutes. AGAIN. Can't remember the exact time, I forgot to turn my garmin off right away, and the times aren't posted yet. At least my 5k times are consistent.

I had a group of 3 firefighters catch up and pass me just before the mile 1 timekeeper and I fell in with them for a while. I'm not so sure they liked having a girl more or less keeping up with them though. One of the 3 wasn't in as good of shape as the other 2 and he was struggling. He was also wearing THREE cotton shirts, 1 short sleeve, 1 long sleeve, and 1 tank. How do I know this? He started stripping about 1.5 miles in. I had to ask him how many layers he was wearing, I was in a short sleeve UA tee and was hot before the race even started but evidently he was cold.

The other 2 firefighters were slowly pulling away and got even more of a lead at the water stop. I had to grab a sip and pour some down my back to cool down though. On the way back there were a couple of overweight police officers that were telling the ff behind me to get going, that he couldn't let Gramma just ahead of him beat him. Since I was the only woman just ahead of him in sight I'm assuming they were meaning me. Guess I really need to cover that gray spot I've got showing, huh? I'm betting they really didn't mean me, were just giving him a hard time but it's still kind of funny.

I started speeding up with about 7/10 of a mile left and kicked it enough that I was directly behind the first 2 f.f.s when I finished but again it still wasn't enough to get me under 25 minutes. Could I have done any better today? I don't think so. I started in the front, I kept the speed at a level that was just on the uncomfortable side, I was nauseous at various points and I picked up the pace near the end further out than I normally do. So, how do I get under 25? Need to start doing more tempo runs so that I can get used to the discomfort and some actual speed workouts wouldn't hurt. It would probably also behoove me to start carrying one of my small water bottles so I wouldn't have to slow for the water stops on these shorter races on the hotter days. When it's cooler I don't have to worry about it but right now I'm needing the hydration. I also need to start hydrating more during the week.

No age group awards at this race, just the top 3 male and female under 18 and the top 3 m & f over 18. Caitlyn Clinton was number 2 female overall and first under 18 with a time of just over 22 minutes, YAY!!!!!!! Michelle's son was also 2nd in the male under 18, double YAY!!!! I think Arland said I was the 4th female and Michelle was the 5th so we didn't do too shabby ourselves! I think all the super fast runners were either at the Race for the Cure or in Chicago for the marathon.

This by the way was my race for the World Wide Festival of Races. I signed up for the Kick the Couch 5k and tomorrow will do either the 10k or 1/2 marathon distance in addition to it. Unfortunately I was having tummy issues again this morning and was super stressed so ran off without my bib, grrrr. As soon as the times are posted I will do my race report on the wwfor site.

Tip of the day: Don't eat spicy chili late the night before a race and especially don't do it on a week that you've already had tummy issues and are sleep-deprived and stressed. 3 trips to the bathroom this morning didn't help my hydration issue any.