Twilight Thriller 5k

The Twilight Thriller 5k is a highly anticipated race at our house. There is a costume contest at the race each year and once Ty figured that out, it has been his mission to win it every year (which he has done). It started with him in a gnome costume and then was him with Carter in the single stroller which he transformed into something awesome and now is him with the double stroller. It is fun to see him get so excited and work really hard to put together something awesome for the stroller. It is even more fun now that Carter is really getting into it. Each night Ty went out to work on the stroller Carter went out with him to ride his bike in the driveway and watch as Ty worked. One night Ty put the windshield on while Carter was asleep and the next day when Carter saw it, he was so excited saying, "I didn't know daddy did this!" In 2013 Ty made the stroller into a plane while he and Carter were pilots. In 2014 the stroller was a train and he and Carter were engineers. In 2015 the double stroller was a pirate ship while Carter, Ty, and I were all pirates and Elise was a mermaid. This year Ty decided on a fire truck. He, Elise, and Carter were all fire fighters and I was the fire they were chasing to put out. Ty put a lot of thought into it and was super excited that I always jog back after I finish my race so I can run to the finish with them. He instructed me to run a little bit ahead of them as we approached the finish line so it looked like they were chasing the fire. He even thought about getting silly string for Carter to spray at me to "put me out" as we finished, but decided against it. Read about last year's race here, 2014's race here, 2013's post by Ty here, and 2012's race in my 29 week bumpdate with Carter here.

The Twilight Thriller is put on by the same people who do the summer race series we run each year. We love the races and they are a lot of fun. They put a lot of awesome details into the pre-race excitement, race fun, and post-race party. They do a great job and we have a lot of fun at each race but the course just isn't conducive to running fast times. I've never run a time at this race that is consistent with what I am capable of compared to speed workouts or previous race times. Going into the race I knew I was in good shape and ready to run a fast 5k time, possibly even break 20 minutes on a good course with a good race. I also knew this race wouldn't be a good one to shoot for a good time due to various different factors. I also knew that the other 5ks I have coming up before the half-marathon won't be good for it either. One is a wine run that takes place on trails and the other is the Run to the Lights race at Silver Dollar City which is incredibly hilly. So although I knew this wasn't a race to shoot for a good time, I also got my hopes up that I might possibly be able to pull one out although I have never done that in the previous 5 years we've run it! I figured since I ran 20:35 for the second half of my 10k I should easily be able to run under 20:29 which was my fastest 5k time from last year. I decided I would shoot for that and then see if I could run under 20 minutes if I had a really good race.

I decided to run a 2 mile warm up because I've been doing really well in my tempo runs with a longer warm-up. Then I headed over to give Ty and the kids kisses before the race, drank a little water, and headed to the start line. I stretched the last few minutes before the race start. The announcer made some comment about the race starting soon so I was finishing up my last quad stretch as he said, "Runners go!" Every time we've run this race they've done a countdown so I was not expecting it to start like that at all and was completely unprepared for the start, dropping my leg and taking off. I felt really good right from the start. I felt like I was running strong and when I'd peek at my Garmin my pace was staying around 6:20-6:30. By the half-mile mark I was the first female in the race and there were just a handful of men in front of me. It was already getting incredibly dark as the race started at 7pm. I looked down and realized I had forgotten to put my light up shoelaces on with all the excitement of changing in the car after attending a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's right before the race. The course is out and back on a soft gravel path. They have us turn around right before the trail crosses a street so the course ends up being a little short at just over 3 miles. I know running on softer surfaces slows you down but I was surprised that as we stepped up to cross a river on a concrete bridge my pace went from 6:20 to 6:05 as I ran on the harder surface. I knew the bridge was at about 0.75 miles into the race from all the previous times we've run the race so I expected to hear my watch beep for the mile mark shortly after crossing it. I never heard it so I eventually looked down and was at 1.3 miles so I missed my first mile split. It had been 6:25, right around where I would have liked to be. The first half of the race is a slight incline and then you turn around and run uphill on the way back.

Taking off at the start of the race.

Thomas and Jeremy at the start of the race.

Once I hit the mile mark I had passed everyone I could see ahead of me. When I neared the turn around I saw two guys headed back on the way back and realized there were 2 men with a huge lead on me and then I was alone. It was dark enough it was difficult to see. Since I wasn't wearing anything that lit up, people still coming out toward the turn-around couldn't see me. I cheered for Thomas, Jeremy, and dad as they passed going the other direction. Then things got really congested. The people still heading out for the turn around were taking up the entire path. There was no where to run around them as I would have had to run down a ditch and into the woods around the path to pass them and then come back up onto the trail. With how dark it was, that was not an option. So I spent most of that mile yelling out "coming through," so they would move and allow me to pass. Even doing that I had to weave in and out due to people wearing head phones so they couldn't hear me. At one point a guy ran directly into me and then later I was tripped by a younger boy. I felt like I was still running a good pace but there were a lot of obstacles during that mile to say the least! I missed my mile split again during the 2nd mile, but later saw I had run it in 6:40 which I felt like wasn't bad considering I had almost fallen down twice and was yelling so people would know I was there most of the time. I had never had such a difficult time before but I think it all came down to forgetting my light up shoelaces. Since people couldn't see me, they weren't moving out of my way.

Going into the last mile I felt like I was picking up the pace. I was also running alone and starting to feel tired. Running through the massive groups of people had worn on my legs. I kept pushing, telling myself if I wanted to run a PR, this would be the section of the race that would determine it. As I turned the last corner on the trail and could see the finish line and the parking lot in the distance, I really started pushing the pace. I could see the clock at the finish line was around 19:40. I knew there was no way I would break 20 minutes, running out past the finish line to finish out to a full 5k. I crossed the finish line in 19:58 and just kept running. Everyone was really cheering for me since I was the first female. They all looked confused as I kept running through the finish line and the group of spectators gathered around the finish, turned the corner, and kept running. I probably could have finished a little faster if I had been able to turn left and run straight down the road, but I had to turn right and then take another immediate turn which slowed me down. I had gone through my 3rd mile in 6:46 and finished out the 5k in 20:36. I was disappointed with my time and jogged back to the finish line to grab a water before running back out on the course to finish with Ty. I got to see Thomas, Jeremy, and dad finish as I ran by and enjoyed cheering for them. I got stopped by multiple people congratulating me on a fast finish and one woman who said, "You're so fast, you're on fire," referring to my costume. I cheered mom on as I ran by her and saw the fire truck lights approaching shortly after that. As I approached Ty and the stroller I could hear Elise crying and Ty said she had been crying for me for about a mile. Once she heard my voice as I started talking to Ty, she stopped crying and was fine for the rest of the race. Carter got out to run to the finish with about a quarter of a mile to go and really took off. I was impressed that he was able to hold pace through to the finish. Ty directed me to run ahead of them so they could chase the fire and Carter was so proud to cross the finish line.

Ty and Carter finishing the race.

I finished out my cool down and then we all enjoyed some root beer (Carter), cream soda (me), and beer (mom, dad, Ty, and Thomas). I didn't see Jeremy drink anything other than water so I'm not sure if he had anything else. We ate some treats and Carter smuggled a couple extra Halloween Oreos as we waited for awards. Ty won the costume contest. They gave us a bucket of candy and a light-up tutu as the prize. I was first overall female in 19:58 so I got a trophy. I was also 3rd out of 211 total finishers. Thomas finished in 22:23 which put him 9th overall and 1st in his age group. Jeremy finished in 23:32, good for 2nd in his age group and 17th overall. Dad finished in 23:55 which put him 3rd in his age group and 21st overall. Mom ran an awesome race finishing in 32:50 which put her 6th in her age group and 91st overall. Ty finished in 35:23 which put him 15th in his age group and 123rd overall. 

Posing for a picture after receiving our award for the costume contest.

With my trophy for being the first female finisher.

Thomas with his age group award.

Jeremy with his age group award.

Dad with his age group award.

Initially I was really disappointed. I ran a 5k race one second slower than the second half of my 10k. I ran it in an average of only 4 seconds per mile faster than my 10k. My last mile of the race was slower than any mile of my 10k. But I also knew there were factors that were out of my control. The course was short and I had to run through spectators after the finish line to add the extra distance. I had to fight through crowds on the way back after the turn around. It was 90 degrees and windy. It was really dark and I couldn't see my Garmin and also missed my mile splits. Plus I know the dirt trail is not optimal for running a fast time. I still kept dwelling on what a disappointing run it was and how bummed I was with myself for not running faster. But then I looked at past results to put things in perspective. I ran over a minute faster than I did on this same course back in June for the Starry Night 5k. I also finished the race almost a minute faster than last year. Last year we ran a 5k the weekend after the Twilight Thriller and I ran 20 seconds faster there so I'm confident that I would run much faster on a different course with different conditions. I looked to see how Jeremy and dad's times compared to the Zoo Run 5k and they both actually ran slower at this race which was a short course than they did at the Zoo Run which is a certified course. I still think a sub-20 is in me, it would just have to be on the right course and I'd have to run an awesome race. There will always be bad races and I'm just glad I had a bad race this weekend rather than in my half-marathon. So I'm letting go of the disappointment and focusing on the 15k I will be running on the 29th. I've never run a 15k before so it will definitely be a PR!