The Georgia Symphony Orchestra Noteworthy 5K aka My First Race

No post yesterday. I spent the early part of the day mowing the lawn (just in time for it to rain). The kids played outside and it was a good time. I had a sandwich and some cheesy crackers for lunch. I didn't want to eat anything too heavy for fear of it affecting my running.

The race started at 7:30pm and I live an hour away, so I started getting ready at 5pm. I spent a little more time with the kids and Shane before leaving the house at 5:30. I wanted time to get lost, park and pick up my packet. I only had a little trouble finding the location. Thankfully I am very familiar with the area due to my "girl's lunches/dinners" at Sweet Tomatoes. The race was on the roads behind the restaurant. I waited in the car for a while before going to pick up my packet. I had to build up the nerve to walk over to get it since I didn't see many people dressed up like I was! Finally, my friend Jenni arrived to pick up her packet and we went about getting me ready. She was supposed to run with me but had to drop out due to personal reasons. I was really grateful that despite the fact that she couldn't run with me, she was still there to cheer me on. I also kinda dumped my camera and car keys on her to lug around. Here is a picture of me before the race:

I know, really cute with the dress, the pants and the shoes!

I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but formal attire to run in was encouraged. There were only about 4 women, including me, wearing anything remotely dressy. Not sure if you can tell in the picture, but the woman by the yellow cones is wearing a purple dress. There was another woman there wearing a skirt, tights and a feather boa! I ran behind her the entire time and that boa was flapping in the breeze!!

We walked around for a bit until the announcer told everyone to line up at the top of the hill.

I'm waaaayyyy in the back

The start of the race was straight down hill. In fact, they specifically told us to try to go slow down the hill to avoid injuries and/or falls. I was kinda nervous, but when they said, "go!" and I woke up from the brief daze I was in, I trotted down the hill:

Here I am starting down the hill

After the hill, we went around the parking lot and out into the street. Jenni got a couple of shots of me rounding out of the main area.

wooohooo....running and running

A lot of the run at this point was down hill. It got curvy at some spots and we turned a few times. I ran out of breath pretty quickly, which was surprising to me. We ran and ran and walked and ran. I thought that surely we had to be halfway. That's when I saw the 1 mile marker. I.about.died! My calves were already on fire and I was tired! I still kept going on. There was never a marker to let us know that we had gone halfway, but at one point, I was going down a hill on a divided road and I saw a police car in front of a very purple-faced man running up hill on the opposite side of the road.  I realized that he must be the leader. At that point, I was feeling pretty good. Then, I started passing a bunch of people trucking up that hill behind him and my feel good moment ended. I wasn't as far ahead as I thought. I checked my watch, though and I was right on time schedule for my usual halfway point (17ish minutes).

We rounded around at an intersection and started going back. I figured that was halfway, but then I saw the 2 mile marker and a water station. I drank a cup of water and kept on going. I look ahead and silently curse to myself because what goes down must then go up...straight up! It was like looking upon a mountain from where I was. I knew that there was no way I could run up that hill and I also knew that the hill was going to increase kill my time! I decided to err on the side of not (as) sore legs and I power walked the hill. All of the people around me were walking it, too! Walking it, however, didn't mean that it wasn't painful every step of the way and at some point, my left leg started hurting where it connects to my hip, but I made it all the way up.

Here I am right past the 3 mile mark

I jogged a good portion of the way down and I was excited to see the backs of some of the buildings we started behind. Now, remember that most of the way out was downhill, so there was one more hill to go. I jogged/walked up some of it until I saw the last turn-in at mile 3. There was even a man standing there to tell us, "congratulations!" I knew at that point that I just couldn't walk it anymore. I would have to push it the rest of the way and run. I knew I wouldn't be happy with myself if I didn't finish by running. Jenni was standing by to take pictures of my final 1/10th of a mile.

When I finally reached the yellow cones at the end of the race, there were a lot of nice people telling us good job and cheering us on. I was so happy to finally reach the finish line! I crossed at 40 minutes and 17 seconds. Not my personal best, but not too bad for a first race with a hill of death!

There was a nice reception with food and drinks and vendor tents set up. We mingled and ate and waited around for the raffles and awards. Jenni was certain that I would win Best Dressed. The awards seemed to take FOREVER. All of the different age group winners seemed to go on forever. I was honestly only half listening just to know when it was over when all of the sudden I heard my name being called and 2nd place. I was in complete shock! I won 2nd place for my age group!! I went up to accept my medal and the sweet lady that put it around my neck told me to stick around because they might have something else for me. I watched the rest of the age groups in amazement at how many really good looking senior citizens ran this race. There was a lady in the 60 to 65 group that didn't look a day over 45! That was when Jenni and I decided that we would have to keep running forever if it means looking that good. When they finally got to best dressed, they said that after careful consideration, number 38 was the best dressed female. Yay! That was my number!! I went forward again to accept my award, which ended up being a Barbie wearing a dress and tiara. 

I'm wearing the medal and that's Barbie!

After that, we decided to leave. I was kind of hungry, so we went to Chili's where I had the biggest, yummiest burger ever!

There was a point during the race that I felt really down. I've already registered for the half in August. I kept thinking, "if this race is kicking my ass, how will I ever make it 13 miles?" The only thing I can think of now is that I have time to train and I know I have to. When the night comes, I'll do my best. I don't have to win it, I just have to finish it.

The medal, my number, the Barbie and the snazzy shirt.

The inscription on the back of the medal