Run to the Lights

Going into the Run to the Lights 5k in Silver Dollar City I was pretty chill. I ended up with serious foot pain after the Tulsa Run which sent me to the physical therapist. He found an incredibly tight section in my calf that has been causing me all kind of grief up and down my left leg since the spring. I've seen him 3 times since the Tulsa Run and he's done some needling each time. He did some needling on my calf a couple days before this race which left a section of my calf a little tender. It was still feeing a little tender on my warm up for the race. He suggested I not do any speedwork until after this race and possibly just hold off until after the Route 66 so I don't irritate my calf even further. I hadn't done speedwork in quite a while going into this race so I wasn't expecting anything too impressive. I was imagining somewhere in the 20-20:30 range, but I was prepared not to be disappointed whatever the outcome. We pulled into the parking lot right after my parents who arrived with my Uncle Mike, my mom's brother who lives in New Jersey and was visiting. The kids were kind enough to pose for pictures for me when we first walked in. One of my favorite moments of the night was watching the kids' faces as they saw the giant Christmas tree and then watched as the lights made a special show to go along with music. We had time to ride the train, play in the area with netting, and then play in Fireman's Landing before he park closed. The kids had a blast!

I walked out to the cars with everyone even though I had already changed into my race clothes when we stopped on our way to get dinner. The kids wanted Easy Mac for dinner so we packed that with a fruit for them and made it in a gas station microwave while we ordered Subway sandwiches at the Subway that was connected to the gas station. Easy and cheap! I did my warm up from the cars after Ty left with the kids. I was a little concerned about how my calf would react to all the hills. When I took off on my warm up, I felt a catch in my knee with each step which was something I hadn't been expecting. I managed to get a 2 mile warm up in even though it's really tricky to get much mileage in around the park. Then I did my PT exercises and went to the restroom again. The race usually starts around 10:10 or 10:15. Last year it started earlier because there weren't very many people visiting the park due to the super cold temps and started around 10:05. This year was much warmer with temps in the low 30's so I expected it to start closer to 10:10 again this year. Mom and dad were at the lockers putting stuff in as I was doing my PT exercises so I waited for them a little bit but then decided I should go stash my warm ups. I made plans with Jeremy and Thomas to meet them at the pretend jail where we had stashed our warm ups the year before. When I walked out into the main area it was quiet and I got a little nervous. I overheard someone say they had already walked the racers to the start line and it wasn't even 10:00 yet! I quickly stashed my stuff and rushed to the starting line. I was so far back and it was packed enough that I couldn't push my way up very far. Eventually I just gave up until they shot the starting gun and I could sneak to the side and pass people in the grass as we walked. Apparently when I'm not nervous at all and chill about a race, it results in me making it far too late to the starting line! This time was much worse than at the Tulsa Run and I could tell I was much farther back than just the 20 some seconds I had been there. The race ended up starting at 10:05 this year, so note to self next year, be ready to walk to the start line by 9:45! The race information says announcements begin at 10:00 and the race will start between 10:10 and 10:15, once the parking lots are cleared. So that early of a start was a bit of a surprise!

I took off and went to the side, passing people the whole way. I started back by run walkers and I heard one woman say, "Wow, she's super fast," as I went by which was funny. The race always goes out really fast because the first half-mile is downhill so I'm always weaving around the people who took out too fast anyway. It didn't seem like I was weaving around that much more than usual, it was just a bit trickier because people were running a lot slower and I was worried someone would just up and start walking as I was coming up on them. I passed dad a little before the mile mark and told him good job as I went by. I was a bit surprised to see him ahead of me because I left for the starting line before he did. After the race I found out he knew a way to cut through to get to the starting line so he wasn't super far back like I had been. I went through the first mile in 6:20 which I knew was around what I had run the first mile in last year. In the out and back section in one of the lower parking lots there was no cone for where to turn around. The guy in front of me turned around early but I went ahead and kept going to see if I could find the cone. I never did so I turned around and people who had been behind me had already turned around. I saw Jeremy go by leaving the parking lot as I was entering it and I could see Thomas a ways ahead of me while doing the out and backs.

Turning and going up the first hill on the course, my legs felt like trash. Some years my legs feel trashed going up that first hill after all the pounding of the downhill and others, it's a relief to no longer be running downhill. It was a little tricky being so far back in the race because I was passing people the whole time and I didn't have anyone to race against. I went through the 2nd mile in 6:55 which I was pretty sure was also pretty comparable to last year. I could see Thomas way out ahead of me going into the park for the last mile. That last mile was where being so far back hurt me. I was passing people the whole time which was deceiving and kept me from realizing I was slowing down. I could see Thomas and a guy quite a ways ahead of me. I'd only see them when there was a bit of a straight away which wasn't often. The last mile is always so hard because there are so many turns, it's nearly impossible to get back up to speed and there are a lot of little hills. At one point a volunteer told me I was the 2nd female and I found that hard to believe because I knew I was way far back from the start. Then on a section where we ran out and back I saw a woman way ahead of me and then didn't see any other women between her and me. It was definitely possible there were women between her and me and I just couldn't see them. As I came up on that last monster hill going up to the finish I could see Thomas and he had passed the other guy. There was no one else to go for so I had no one to race with. My last mile ended up being 7:10 which I found super disappointing. I felt like if I'd had someone to race against, I could have run a much better last mile. That was the only thing I was kicking myself over with getting to the starting line so late.

My finishing time was 20:30 which my watch showed as 6:49 pace but 6:36 pace grade adjusted. The first place female ran one second faster than my time from last year. That made me wish I had started closer to the front because even though I wouldn't have beat her, being able to see her would have motivated me that last mile for sure! The volunteer was correct, even finishing in 21:30 because I was a minute back from the starting line, I was the 2nd place female! So crazy! The 3rd place female finished in 22:06. Jeremy finished in 19:48, 14th out of 666 overall and 2nd in his age group. I was 18th overall, 2nd female, and 1st in my age group. Thomas finished in 21:13, 24th overall and 5th in his age group. He asked me what the heck happened to me since I never passed him. Dad was thrilled to place in his age group after coming in 4th so many times in the past! He was 77th overall and 2nd in his age group with a time of 25:40. Mom finished in 36:14 which put her 300th overall and 5th in her age group.

Jeremy with his 2nd place age group medal.

My first place age group medal.

Dad with his 2nd place age group medal.

I ran 2 miles for my cool down and then enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies with everyone else. When I got back to the hotel, a little before midnight, I was surprised I could actually see pretty well to lock the door. Then I realized the lights from my light up stocking cap were actually illuminating the room well enough for me to see without waking anyone else up. I left my hat on as I walked around so I could see. I decided to just wear the dry clothes I changed into after the race to bed and skip taking a shower so I'd make less noise. My foot was already hurting pretty badly so I went ahead and foam rolled even though I just wanted to go straight to bed. It paid off as my foot didn't hurt at all in the morning! As always it was so sweet to see the kids cuddled up in bed together and I just had to take a picture of them before getting in bed! I hate walking away from a race, wishing I could have a do-over. I really wished I could re-run that last mile and have a better finish to my race. I knew it wouldn't change my place or position within the female standings, but I just felt like I could have run a better time. My time was my 3rd fastest out of 6 times running the race, so it wasn't too bad, I just felt like I could have done better. For comparison I ran 20:04 last year, 20:40 in 2017, 19:45 in 2016, 20:46 in 2015, and 24:18 in 2014 when I was 20 weeks pregnant with Elise. So this year's race was about middle of the pack as far as my performances go. And I had people to chase and race against those other years which really helped. This year's race was more like running a tempo through a group of people running slower tempos. Maybe I'll break 20 minutes again next year!