Humble Pie: Kracker Classic 5K Race Report

I ran the Kracker Klassic 5K this weekend in my hometown (there is no link–that’s how small this race is!).   I was actually kind of excited to run this one because the race used to run by my house as a child and we always had a water station set up in our front yard.    Since it was a hometown race, I knew the route would be boring, but I’d see a lot of people I knew there*. 

I think this is my 6th 5K, so I should be fairly used to them by now, right?   Uh… No.  I FAILed miserably.   There are all kinds of excuses for why this happened:  heat, humidity, strength training the day before,…. etc., etc. 

But the bottom line is this:  I haven’t really been running consistently for months.  I thought it would be no problem to do “just a 5K.”  The morning of the race, I wasn’t really feeling it.  And I hadn’t pre-registered so I seriously considered skipping it, but I was kinda hoping to validate my surprise PR from last month.   I figured if I could finish under 32:00 I’d have an “official” PR to report.  No dice.  

My time was 34:5x, barely under 35 and almost a full 3 mins slower than last time.   This is my 3rd worst 5K time ever.  I ran better hungover for crying out loud!   I even took walk breaks. . .   in a 5K!   I ran a half marathon, damn it, I should be able to eek out 3 measly miles.   But I didn’t. 

The running gods have served me a piece of humble pie and I’m eating it.  I ran this morning with a renewed sense of purpose. I will NOT let heat/humidity keep me from training anymore. I *must* improve my times.  Otherwise, all that hard work for the half seems all for nothing.  I don’t even feel like a “real” runner right now.   

——-

* I did see a lot of people I knew there, which ended up being more intimidating than I originally thought.  However, because it was a small hometown race, I actually knew a lot of the winners, which was super cool.

Foto Friday: Warrior Dash x2

I actually had a completely different post planned for today, but then I got an email that the professional pictures from Warrior Dash were up.   I was stoked that they were even able to read my bib # for some of these.   I haven’t *quite* finished looking through the “lost and found” pics to see if I can find myself diving into mud.   Rest assured that if I do, part 3 will be on the way!

Charging the Hills

Navigating a mud slide

Jumping over fire!

And again (This is my fave. I might have to purchase)

Apparently my dismount is less-than-graceful!

I am a Warrior!

This past weekend, I participated in the Warrior Dash Midwest, a 5K (ish) trail run with 12 obstacles thrown in for good measure.   I “ran” it with my friend NIkki, but–to be honest– we did a fair share of walking, so I consider it more of a fun run than a race.  Potatoes, pot-ah-toes.

The Warrior Dash is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced… and I had no clue what to expect.  I hadn’t really trained for it and was a little nervous about the obstacles. Our heat started at 10:30 and it was already SUPER hot and sunny.   But, my lord, it was SO MUCH FUN.    We jumped over cars, crawled through tunnels, scaled walls, climbed up cargo nets, jumped over fire, etc.

And then there was the mud!  There were a total of 3 mud obstacles, but–as always– they saved the best for last.  After the fire jump, you have to crawl under barbed wire in a HUGE mud pit.  As soon as I came up to the pit, I hear the crowd chanting “Dive. Dive. Dive.”   So I dove.   I got mud in my eyes… in my ears… in my nose… everywhere.  It was sooo much fun.

The after-party was the best part… lots of nice people gave us their free beer coupons and we had a great time conversing with other Warriors.   The bling was pretty nice, too:  A standard cotton tshirt, a cool medal, and–wait for it– a warrior helmet!!  Can’t get much better than that.

On to the pictures (many of which were “borrowed” from other people’s facebook pages…)

I was most intimidated by the cargo net

The hay bales were much easier than I expected. More like "hay steps"

The fire jump was FUN... much higher than anticipated

The Army crawl throuh mud was definitely the most fun!

Correction: The afterparty was the best part!

Beer!!

Costumes!

Mud!

New friends! (this lady was clean when she started. Then her kids hugged her. We wanted our picture taken with "the mom")

Bling!

There was mud everywhere…

On our shoes

On my legs (note the pieces of hay/straw stuck on them, too!)

On my face

In my ear

on my camera

and my bag

We finally got hosed off by one of these...

but only managed to get *kinda* clean (and a LOT sun burnt for me)

In the end, I finished in about 46 minutes.  I’m not at all concerned about the time, though. It was SO.MUCH.FUN.  We’re already thinking of what we’re going to do next year!

Foto Monday(?): Signs, Signs, Everywhere are Signs

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.  I suck at blogging.  I have a bunch of Foto Friday posts I want to do, but I can never manage to actually *do* them on Friday.  And I haven’t posted anything at all this month, so here’s a special Monday edition.  Lucky you.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my friends?  I do.  I love them for a lot of reasons, but I especially love the signs they made me for my big “events” last month.

Kim/Lindsey made the “Go Jill” signs for the half marathon.  The signs are a bunch of inside jokes all rolled into one (and, really, wouldn’t be that funny if I explained them to you. Trust me on this one.)  I honestly didn’t even “get” all of it when I saw Kim at Mile 11, but I L-O-V-E that she was there… with her trademark “cell phone” scream… and a sign!

The big signs were made by Nikki and Carrie for my Derby Debut.  I especially liked the “signs on sticks.”  It was awesome to see my friends holding these during the bout.  Kyle was on the floor with the Bitch E. Rich #815 sign.   Kim (and Donna?) made the smaller signs that say “Kill, Kill, Kill…, Bitch E. Rich likes it rough, and Bitch E. Rich is one bad mother F’er.”  They had a bunch more of the smaller ones, but I think I misplaced them along the way.

My only regret is that I FAILed to get any pictures of my “fans” with the signs.  Next time, fo sho.