Enumclaw Street Fair 5K

The night before the race was clear and warm. Full moon high in the sky before darkness set in. I snapped this photo of Mount Rainier from our back porch.
Race morning I wore my Deshler Design polka dot headband HERE, running skirt and Brooks Green Silence shoes. The weather was perfect about 66', there was a large crowd when I checked in, so I thought it would be best to find the Honey Buckets. The men in front of me in line were FUNNY and noticed my bright shoes.

With 10 minutes to go I was out of line and back with hubby, we snapped a couple photos.

The race was even chip timed, VERY COOL!!

It was pretty sunny, so we tried this photo again in the shade.

Getting a 4+++ year old and a 2++ year old to pose for a photo is FUN (sarcasm).

I decided to get in position early, I was alone until a beautiful blond woman started chatting with me. She had a bright blue shirt with sparkly glitter, my kind of gal!! She introduced herself as Erika, a nd let me know that she reads Tall Mom. AWESOME! I love meeting new people, we exchanged a High Five and I got glittered :) Pre-race sparkles.

• The race directors made an announcement about where the 6 minute miler should be and Erika left me. I was hoping for 6:45 pace, so I stayed up front. We were warned about the single track dirt trail...URGH! My Green Silence are road shoes, not dirt trail or gravel.. I chatted with a tall fit woman who was most likely in my age group. And we were OFF!
  

Muscle Man the photog, I always flash him a smile at the start and a grunt at the end :)

The woman to the right of the photo is Delene, she is very lean and made for running. I WISH I could have kept up with her!! I positioned myself with young guys, fit older men and Delene, in retrospect I should not have been so close to the front. Once we reached the single track I noticed I was going WAY TOO FAST! This is a classic Tall Mom Mistake. I go out fast, then CRASH. Not a smart race strategy. I slipped and struggled to find my footing on the little trail through the weeds. Once out I immediately got a side ache. Mile 1 chimed 6:26... Hence the side ache, that was 20 seconds faster than plan.

• Yep not even half way and I was STRUGGLING! Just then I was passed by two lovely blond teenagers. I wanted to stay in second, but my pace was slowing, I settled for 4th. The turn around a little backpack and I could not get my pace below 7's. Mile 2 chimed 7:18, wow I had slowed significantly. My confidence took a punch as a woman who appeared to be my age passed. I could not speed up! Erika passed on the opposite side and cheered me on, I wanted soooo badly to make her proud, I love that she took the time to cheer. I also spotted Sarah my Facebook buddy and former basketball competition in high school.

Back to the trail and I stopped looking at my watch, I knew it was BAD! Another woman passed me. Defeated I TRIED to speed up. The last stretch was PAINFUL, why do I sign up for these races when I am not ready????

I have been training for Marathons, I need to rethink my training if I want to have a strong 5K all the way to the Finish.

Although I did not follow my race plan, I finished with a race PR!! 21:38, which is 6:58 pace. I love that I could finish with sub 7's, although I wish it would have been consistent. 3rd in my age group and I think 6th or 7th female. Delene got a 20:01 and made her Grandpa proud, we chatted for a bit post race.

• The Little Studs were getting fussy, I like to wait for the announcements and to cheer others on, but it was clear our kids were DONE. Family had to come first. We perused the street fair ending with the Firefighter booth.
  

The Little Studs each got a hat and badge and the GREAT Firefighter let the boys sit in the truck.

All in all it was a fun day. I made a fatal mistake, but still ended with a race I can be proud of. I plan to work on speed and consistency to get ready for a comeback 5K in August.

• How did your weekend go?