Spring Valley 4 Miler

This year I signed up to run the York Road Runners Club Winter Series. There are eight races for one {very low} price that I figured would keep me out on the roads for training. The first race I had to miss due to a wedding we attended, but this past Sunday I was able to attend the Spring Valley 4 Miler.

This race had me a tiny bit worried because it was the first one I attended on my own. Every race I have run, hubby and I attended together, whether he ran it or not. He's run a few without me, but this was the first one I went to alone. It's against my introvert/perfectionist {to make hubby happy - he says I'm Type A} nature.

So, I headed off to Spring Valley to run a distance I know I can run....just slowly. I got to the park and picked up my bib. The interesting this about the bib is in order to run all the races, you need to wear the same bib every time.

I don't know if I've ever had a number this low for a race. LOL! In order to keep the bib in good shape, I needed to wear it on my leg because I always mess up the ones on my stomach. So far, so good. The bib stayed in good condition to the end.

I had plenty of time to wait for the race to start. I didn't know anyone, so I wandered around. Nerves were hitting pretty heavy. I found the course map, but since I didn't know the area, it didn't help much. LOL!

I also took the obligatory pre-race selfie. It's not the best, but at least I tried.

The location for the race was pretty. Though driving in and seeing where we were had me nervous. I had a feeling this was going to be a bad race. It was hilly in the area and I started to think the race was going to be rough.

Pretty isn't it? The problem is those are hills. I'm not great at hills and I haven't been training on hills lately. Also, my hip flexor doesn't like hills. It always gives me trouble when I run them.

The race started a little later than I thought. Each race of the series has a one mile run as well as the longer race. I thought the one mile race was after the start of the longer race, but it was before. So we started later than I anticipated, which put me more on edge. Yes, this is not good for me.

We finally did get started and off we went! Down a small little hill, then up a ridiculous uphill. And that's when I knew it was going to be a horrible race for me. Not that I wasn't giving it my all, but I was out of my {running} league. Initially, I was in front of a few people, but I was at the back of the pack...not surprising.

And shortly after that, I went to the back of the pack. Before we hit mile 1, I was last. I was running my best, but still at the back of the pack...literally. I ran the downhills and flats, walked the hills. I started to see the person in front of my further and further away. A couple times I lost sight of him and wasn't sure I was following the right path. I admit this is always my complaint in races, not making race courses clear enough for all runners. If the back of the pack people lose sight of each other, how do they know they are still on the right track...especially when the course is hilly and windy.

Anyway... I finally reached the turn that led me back to the finish line and watched all the cars leaving the race. Oh it was disheartening. It was also a little dangerous as it was a downhill for them, an uphill for me on a very narrow road. I made it, with a high five from someone I knew from racing in the area. She is such a sweetheart!

I finished the race just under 60 minutes {I believe 57:--}. I don't know. Honestly, I don't care either. The goal had been under 55 minutes based on my 4 mile time at the Rocky Run a few weeks ago and had it not been for the horrible hills, I might have made it. Of course, I still would have been one of the back of the pack racers.

Post-race selfie. Don't let that smile fool you, I was pretty upset over this race. Not only did I finish last, but again having no idea on the course in terms of where I was going. I've only had that happen one other time and I DNF a duathlon because of it.

This race made me think of a few things as I was out there alone.

* About mile two I wanted to quit, but since it was a 4 mile race if I turned back I had to go the same distance as if I kept going forward. I went forward.
* The running people of York County are fast.
* For all the cheers I received when I crossed the line, I didn't feel like they were necessary.
* I know if I lost weight I would run faster. I kept thinking how much faster as I was walking up the hills.
* I need to get better at consistent training. Sure, I can run 4 miles, but not at a good speed. Sometimes races like this make me realize what a "bad" runner I am. {You don't have to tell me just going out there is the important thing, when you are last, it hurts.}

The next Winter Series race is a 10k. I have a feeling I will be last for that one too...


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YMCA Armed Forces 5k

Yesterday, hubby and I ran the 11th Annual Armed Forces Day 5k in Harrisburg.  A few months ago we had thought to go on vacation to Williamsburg, VA for a few days and saw a an Armed Forces race down there.  We thought we would add that to our vacation, then ended up not going.  So, when I saw this race through the YMCA, I decided I wanted to run it.

I ran this race in memory of my dad and grandfather, both of whom were in the military.  My dad served in the Army during the Korean conflict, then the Coast Guard.  My Grandfather served in the Air Force during WWII in Great Britain.  Both have passed on and I thought it would be a great way to honor their service.

The race started at 8:00 a.m., so we left the house at 7:00 a.m. to get to City Island and pick up our packet.  There was no early packet pick-up, all day of.  We arrived, parked the car, then headed over to the Harrisburg Senators ball park for packet pick-up (Double A farm team of the Washington Nationals).  We got our bags, bibs, and t-shirt and had time to take it all back to the car.  Afterwards, we came back to the stadium to get in line for the start.  Here's where I think they fell down on the job.  They lined us all up on a narrow lane to start the race running around City Island.  The first thing I noticed was they did not have anyone sing/play the National Anthem.  Ummm...this is a race in honor of Armed Forces day, how are we not singing/playing the National Anthem?  Then, without warning, a horn went off and the race started.  Everyone near me (including myself) were confused.  There was no warning and honestly, no start line.  And with no chip timing...

But, off we went around City Island and then across the pedestrian bridge to Harrisburg.  It's a familiar course to anyone who runs races in Harrisburg, but I liked that we started with a loop around the island before heading over to the mainland.  I felt good as we ran up until about three quarters into the first mile, then I felt like crap.  I hit the bathroom twice at home and when hubby hit up the port-a-potty before the race, I was fine.  Then three-quarters into mile 1, I had to use the bathroom.  Ugh.  And since this was a 5k, no bathrooms on the course.  Bah.  And throughout the race my stomach felt worse and worse. 

I kept running though.  I decided to run the whole thing, no walk breaks.  Which would be the first time in about a year that I did that.  I ran up the first hill and around the pretty garden and headed back.  Back down the hill, then about midway between the two bridges I literally felt like I was going to be sick.  And I stopped to walk.  Slightly disappointed in myself, but I thought I was going to be sick.  So I walked for about a minute thirty.  Then decided I would reach the finish line quicker if I started up again even if it was slower than I would normally go. 

But then something odd happened.  I got a fast song on the Nano and sped up a tad.  Not much, but a little.  Then I decided to run up the final hill before heading back over the pedestrian bridge to the finish line.  After getting up the hill I started running faster.  I passed two people on my way and then kicked it.  I sprinted to the finish line.  I ran faster the last tenth of a mile faster than I've ever run.  Even hubby said he's never seen me run that fast!

And I crossed the "finish line" (again, no real line).  The time on the clock when I finished was somewhere in the 37s, but I know that's not all that accurate.  I am going with my Garmin instead.  I know I had about a 20 second lag time before hitting the "start line" and I didn't stop Garmin at the exact "finish line," so I'm calling this a 36:40 finish.  Honestly, it's probably more than that, but since I don't know where the official lines were I think this is a fair compromise. 

Which means, I set another PR.  :-)  My last 5k race was a 36:43, so Armed Forces 5k was about 3 seconds faster.  Woohoo!  This is PR number 8 in a row.  Crazy!

Here's a couple photos from yesterday!

Chris in front of the pedestrian bridge

I wore a Coast Guard t-shirt to honor my dad.

 Hubby and I after the race

A funny (to me) after the race story.  We usually hit DD after a long run or race, but since we don't pass any on the way to the house from Harrisburg, we stopped a local donut place called Maple Donuts instead.  We each got our donuts, but their coffee isn't the greatest, so we went next door to McDonald's for coffee.  And then, we proceeded to drink our McDonald's coffee and eat our Maple Donuts at the picnic tables outside McDonald's.  LOL!  I kept thinking a Mickey D's employee was going to come yell at us for eating someone else's food at their table, but nothing.  I'll be honest, when DD isn't available for iced coffee, McDonald's has a nice alternative.  And they have a sugar-free vanilla syrup which is pretty good.

Did you race this weekend?  How did you do?