12 in 12: May

Week of Race 

I went for 2 walks this week and I ran a mile on the treadmill earlier this week. I didn’t exactly train for the 5K- lousy weather and life happening; I knew I needed to move this week.  

I wasn’t sure what to wear for this race. The weather had been all over the map and since we were going to be by the water, I knew it would be slightly colder than inland. I also didn’t purchase a special pair of socks for this race. After going through my clothes, I settled on black yoga pants, a yellow tee, my bunny socks and my new New Balance sneaks. 

I also finalized my playlist this week making sure I absolutely love the songs I have on there and in the right order. That middle song is super important for my pacing. That has been a great way for me to determine if I’m on track.

Night before Race 

Friday afternoon they had a bib pickup at the location of the race. This was the first time, I was able to pick up my bib and swag (!!) bag before a race. As I parked I was instantly blown away (again) by the view. This made me extra excited for the race. I got my bib and my swag bag full of goodies!

The shirt for this race has to be one of my favorites. The back has a beautiful photo of a painting of sailboats that are the ones in the background of the race bib.

Morning of Race 

I was cranky in the morning. I’m not sure if it was nerves or what but I was cranky. 

My parents and I drove to Island Heights and it was a BEAUTIFUL day,  like picture perfect. We parked (much better parking situation and parking attendants) and we milled around waiting for the race to start.

We were sitting down by the water and I saw this yellow thing walking around. I quickly realized it was BUSTER, the mascot from the Jersey Shore Blue Claws. I got so giddy that I ran over to him and his handler and to see if I could take a photo with him. He was so excited and the handler did such a great job taking photos:

My parents and I did our pre race selfies as always. My cheer squad was down a person today but Keith made sure to text me before and after the race to check in. I felt his support from the distance but I sure did miss him!

Right before Race

I was all ready in the group- middle of the pack like always waiting around. 

I for sure there was going to be a horn to signal us to go BUT we got a cannon. Yup a BOOOOOM! and we were off. 

Such a tiny cannon, such a BIG sound. 

During the Race 

My mom caught these photos of me right after the start line:

Woof! This was a rough race and I thought multiple times “yikes I didn’t train enough” and “oh look how pretty the scenery. ” I struggled with this race, there were a lot of hills but I loved running around the town and seeing all the pretty houses. 

There was one thing that surprised me was that the side streets weren’t closed off,  only the major streets. I chuckled when I realized this; I know this is a sleepy little town but its still a race.  

I tried to keep the large group in front of me in sight 90% of the time but when we  rounded the corner to go by the river, they seemed to disappear. Lol  I don’t know where they went. I looked down at my phone one moment and poof! they were gone the next moment. 

I did appreciate the Kiwanis members at each mile marker shouting out the times. Once I got to the 

I had to stop to take my sweatshirt off after the big hill; i was sweating so much. I thought taking my sweatshirt off would be easy BUT between my ear buds and my bib pinned onto my sweatshirt and being sweaty it was messy. Bless anyone watching me, I was mess.

When I finally saw the 3 mile sign, I just KNEW the finish line was close but it also seemed so far  away. As I rounded the bend, I saw my dad then my mom and then the finish line. I was so excited; I really struggled to complete this race. They gave me the last bit of oomph to get to that finish line.

I was beyond excited to finish this race. The finish line was a little wacky but I crossed it!

I saw a photographer at the finish line and i said yo my self, smile! I glanced at my time as I crossed the finish line. I grabbed a water bottle and turned around to go see my parents 

This race has to be one of the prettiest ones I ran but also the hilly-ist ones too. 

I quickly realized I need to train better for the next one.

After the Race 

I walked over to my parents for after race hugs! We also ended up meeting a neighbor of ours and chatting for a bit. We walked over to the staging area where they were going to hand out the awards. I know I wasn’t getting an award but we wanted to see where the music was coming from. To our surprise, it was a man playing a guitar. He was so good! 

We took a post run photo by the sign and down by the water. 

Results 

Chip time: 37:58.04

I was 108 out of 182 for my age group. Again, just below the middle. 

I was 212 out of 322 overall. I was just below the middle of the pack. 

My goal was to do better than my previous Race and I DID IT! I was 2:08 faster than last month’s average. (I was approximately 2 minutes slower than the Taco Trot time.) 

Music 

To see what was on my playlist this month, click here. 

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Well, that’s #5 of the 12 5K’s I’m running this year. YAY! 

Next month, it’s the Red Bank Classic in Red Bank. I am hoping for warmer weather and an Instagram Alter Ego Ambassador Meetup!!

Did you miss last month’s 5K? Check out April’s  and the other races I’ve run previously: 

March 2023 | February 2023 | January 2023 | December  2022 | August 2022 | August 2017 

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[[Run when you can, Walk if you have to, Crawl if you must Just never give up- Dearn Karnazes]]