Mustache Dash

Last year Ty heard about a race called the Mustache Dash through Groupon.  We signed up knowing it would be a small race since it was the inaugural year.  Ty made me a shirt to wear honoring Carter's future mustache, Thomas grew a sweet stache, the rest of us wore fake ones from the race packet, and we all had a blast.  I was 30 weeks pregnant and won my age group in 25:56.  I knew this year I'd have no problem beating my time from last year!

Thomas' awesome stache from last year!

Going into the race I'd had a rough week of training.  The soreness from my 12 mile run in California lingered late into the week and prevented me from getting a speedy run in.  Although I knew that wouldn't effect my race, it did effect my confidence.  The week before going to California I had run a tempo 5k with the stroller in 22:05.  I focused on that and knew I was poised to run a new postpartum PR.  My previous best being 21:23 at the Zoo Run 5k.  I figured I could run an average of around 6:40 per mile and planned to take off the first mile in around 6:40.

Carter ready for the race!

Trying out another mustache.

We took off and I felt pretty good.  By the first turn I was 3rd overall female with the top 2 women within range.  I looked up and was surprised to see I wasn't far behind the lead vehicle and Jeremy was running alongside the lead pack.  Half a mile into the race I had passed both women and Jeremy was leading the race with a huge gap between him and 2nd place.  The first mile was into the wind and had a few sizable hills.  I went through the mile in 6:48, slower than I'd hoped, but I knew the wind and hills slowed me down quite a bit.

Carter loved my mustache!

Trying out a kazoo from the tents before the race.

Going into the 2nd mile I moved into 4th place overall.  The guy in 3rd place had quite a lead and I was mostly running by myself.  There was a guy in a wig and a tutu running by me and some people would yell, "Let's go ladies," at us thinking he was a female.  It provided me with quite a bit of entertainment.  I kept pushing the pace hoping to run mile 2 a little faster than mile 1.  We hit the turn-around and I noticed we were at 1.5 miles rather than 1.55 so I figured the course was a bit short.  The wind let-up quite a bit when we turned around which helped me pick up the pace even more.  My split for mile 2 was 6:43 which I was pleased with.

Ty ran with Carter.

The last mile we had the wind at our backs and had some nice downhills.  I was really rolling on the downhills and pushing the pace.  I saw Ty and Carter after the turn-around which gave me a boost to push a little harder.  As I crossed the finish line I looked at my Garmin and saw the course was in fact short.  I decided to run through the finish line, much to the distress of one of the women cutting timing chips off shoes.  She was very concerned and yelled at me as I kept running.  Of course, I went back to return it after I finished out 3.15 miles!  My split for mile 3 was 6:33 and I finished out the full 5k in 21:05, 6:42 pace.

Now I'm itching to run another 5k so I can really push to break 21 minutes.  I ran hard and was pleased with my time, but I was a little bit disappointed.  I wasn't sore yesterday or today and even ran a hard workout today.  For some reason I'm having a hard time running fast during 5ks.  I know I've really focused on the half-marathon and I guess that's reflected in my 5ks, but I just feel like I'm capable of running faster.  I'm okay with slowly chipping away at my 5k time 10-20 seconds at a time like I have been.  We have plenty of races coming up on our calendar.

Wearing our race shirts later in the day.

Jeremy was the 1st overall finisher in 18:25 which translates to around a 19:05 5k.  I was the top female finisher in 19:58 which I finished out in 21:05.  As the top male and female finishers we won sunglasses.  Jeremy got black running sunglasses and I got pink everyday wear sunglasses.  Jeremy also won his age group and Thomas came in 2nd in the same age group.  Ty ran with Carter in the stroller and was 14/21 in his age group.  Dad won his age group and mom was 2nd in her age group.  They only gave out awards to the top overall finishers, otherwise we would have come home with 5 awards!  I enjoyed the race just as much as last year and I'm sure we will run this one again.

Wearing our new sunglasses.

Linking up with Ashley for Move it Monday!