Friday, September 11, 2009

The Results Are In!

This is the moment you've all been waiting for... race results! Wahoo! First I just want to thank everybody for the encouragement you gave me the last few months. It definitely helps make each run a little bit better. Also, I can't believe all of you who came and participated with me! It was so much fun! There were four people that ran this 5k with me: Seth, my sister Annie, Seth's sister Rachel, and Seth's brother-in-law Marty. There were also several more people that came to show support: Rachel's husband Abraham with their two boys Soren and Liam, Hillary (Abe's sister), Marty's wife (Seth's sister) Collette and two of their kids Tessa and Marty Jr, Marty's mom (sorry I can't remember her name!), and Annie's husband Eric with their little girl Belen. Eric was the mastermind behind all the wonderful race pictures.

(Left to Right) Annie, Me, Seth, Rachel, Marty

I was really anxious the morning of the race and I think it sapped some of my energy, but I still ended up doing pretty good on my run. My official time was 29:30 but I timed myself and was more like 28:30, which is about a minute faster than I was the last time I tried running the course, so I was happy about that. I didn't quite make it all the way without stopping and walked for just under a minute on the big hill.

The race has just begun!

This is me at the half-way point. This is my out-of-breath smile.

I ended up coming in 4th in my age group for the women, 5th for women overall, and 20th place out of everyone. I was really surprised! There were about 100 racers total so I feel really good about my effort. I ended up finishing before the others in our group so I got to see everyone else cross the fnish line. Seth and Annie were neck and neck the whole way and were racing against each other on the home stretch. It was pretty funny.

Seth & Annie racing to the finish!

Everyone in our group did really good and I'm really proud of all of them for the hard work they put into their training. We're going to have a re-match in a couple weeks up in Idaho Falls at the Spud Day 5k. So, if you missed out on this race, you still have time to join us at the next one!



8 comments:

Budsly said...

Where did you find the results?

Karen said...

I looked at the stickers on the poster before we left! I learned my lesson last time... you can't count on these race people to post official results anywhere. But, I figure there's a chance they'll post them on their webpage eventually: http://familyfitnessday.blogspot.com

The Butler Clan said...

Good for you guys!! I always love to hear of people (especially my own kin) coming over to the runner's side. It is the best way to feel good about yourself, I mean your only competitor is yourself! You all looked great! next goal: 10K! That is a great distance! Once you've accomplished the 5K, 10K is just around the corner and so much easier to reach than the first 3 miles. Keep it up! I'm proud of you all!

Paul said...

AWESOME!!!

Karen said...

Hey Ashley, got any suggestions for a good 10k training plan? I'm having a hard time finding one that fits my skill level! They all assume you can already run 10k which seems wierd. I need a plan that'll get me from 5k to 10k!

Following a plan made training much better for me because it was easier to see progress and hit small goals.

heidi said...

I ditto Paul! AWESOME! Your race time's AMAZING!!!!

And you look beautiful.

Holly said...

Great job, Karen! Glad to hear you had a wonderful race day!

heidi said...

KAY! I forgot to tell you. Paul and I "raced" a 5Kay in your honor! He had his bike race the day of your running race, so we did our 5K (along the Boise River) the following weekend. It was glorious! We started just before sunset, the weather cool, and, I had snack-size snickers hidden away in my pockets for the halfway point. Paul found my slower-than-his-usual pace refreshing, he said. ("It's fun and doesn't hurt as much going this pace!")

Also, it was the first CONTINUOUS 5K I've done. We figured out that the path to the video store and back was 5K. But, of course, I always stopped to get videos.

Our "race" was the first time for me to run the whole way without any stops. I'm not much of a runner. But I was inspired to celebrate your running efforts, on my own, more than once since you began!

Weirdly, I felt strongest at the end. As usual. On bike rides, and such, I often feel like I've truly "warmed up" about an hour in!

(I've started experimenting with something new: running and CLIMBING at the same time! Kinda fun. Reminds me of hiking. It's a nice compliment to cycling--especially since, on bike rides, I end up on foot on the steep parts, anyway! My daddy likes to say: "It's not BIKING if you're not HIKING!")

Moral to the story: Running's hard! We're amazing to do it at all! Totally amazing. Yay us!

(word verification word: DRIEST.)