Saturday started off pretty early, I think we were up around 5:30 am.  We both got ready pretty quick and headed out the door to Jasper, GA.  The race started at 8 am and we got there around 7 am.  We got our bag of stuff that included our shirts.  They are designed each year by president of the lodge (I think that is right), so each year is different and this is the 16th year.  We met a bunch of great people including a woman who has lost 200 lbs.  She will tell you that she still weights 300 lbs but gets to at least one 5k a month.  She and her husband were a trip and we exchanged contact information since they seem to know about all the neat little 5k’s in the area.  We also had a GA local celebrity citing.  We found Don McClellan, he is a now retired Channel 2 news reporter.  Periodically we see him again on TV when they are reporting about a big race since he is an avid runner.

http://www.wsbtv.com/staff/don-mcclellan/

I also found his blog and he’s got a picture from the 5k – http://donmcclellan.wordpress.com/

He’s dressed exactly like I’ve seen him on TV.  😀

We headed to the start and kept moving and walking to warm up our muscles before we stretched out a little bit.  This race was my friends first 5k in about 12 years.

You can barely see them but yes I wore my rainbow socks and got lots of compliments on them.  We took off at the start with a plan to stay together but if something changes that’s ok.  We were told it was a little hilly, going out it was fine, coming back was harder.  We were both very surprised when we ran the 1st mile in 10:30.  I’ve never run that fast (with the exception of in the 8th grade :D) so we were both super pleased.  The 2nd mile was slower at 12:56 (I think, I don’t have my watch with me but it was sub 13 min mile).  My back didn’t start getting sore and tired enough to bother me until in the 2nd mile.  So that did slow me down a little.  The last 1.1 mile was in 15:56 (or something like that, just below 16 min).  Those last few hills were hard.  But we were so close to beating my last time that I pushed through it and actually sped up when we saw the finish.  I thought I got a new PR, well I didn’t but only missed it by 2 or 3 seconds.  I don’t care, it’s a new PR to me because I am super happy with how fast I ran the first mile and it didn’t feel like I over exerted myself in the beginning.  So I may have a slightly faster speed in me 🙂  I usually just have go or no go so that is great.  Once we finished we headed to the car to drop off gear and get our water jugs.  Then we went back to the lodge to get our biscuits!

Yes the biscuits were good, homemade and warm.  We also grabbed a banana and more water.  Shortly after that, they had awards and a raffle.  I was surprised that I won 3rd place in my age group and just beat out my friend by 1 sec.  She was nagging me over that one.  Her husband told her next time to shove me out of the way LOL She won a rolling suitcase that her little boy will love.

We headed down from the mountains and picked up some lunch.  I would have stayed all day to talk with my friend but I needed to get back over to my boys.  My little one of course has decided to run a fever (so far it’s just a virus but it’s frustrating still).  I wasn’t sure I would get to go on my bike ride as planned on Sunday but I was still hoping.  Me and my little man stayed home from church on Sunday.  The group I’m riding with started out of my family’s church.  It’s Witness Through Fitness – http://www.witnessthroughfitness.org/  I also have them linked in blogs I like.  So my mom was at church and had multiple people come up to her and excitedly talk to her about me coming to ride.  So when she got home, she said “you have to go, everyone is super excited that you are coming!”  My little man was doing better by the time I left.

I headed out at 3:30 pm to drive over to the church they meet at.  It was pretty hot – around 94 degrees and pretty sunny.  I packed two water bottles – one with ice and water and the other with gatoraide.  I also had a cooler for after with water and gatoraide.  I also brought along a pouch of GU Chomps (orange) to keep my electrolytes happy.  https://guenergy.com/products/products-chomps/   I liked them and they didn’t hurt my stomach – those who know me, know I have a screwed up digestive system so that was nice to find something that helped and didn’t hurt me.  I wore my running dress with cycling shorts underneath and I was coated in 50 spf sunscreen.  There was a group going on a 45 mile ride and then about 7 of us going on the 20 mile ride.  We ended up gaining 2 from the other group.  I didn’t know how my legs would do since they were a little sore from my run the day before since I pushed it.  I just took each hill as we got to them.  Some were faster and some were slow but I was able to keep up.  I went faster, harder and longer than I have ever done in a very long time.  The bike is one area I’m nervous and timid about.  I haven’t really been on a bike since I was in high school so it feels strange to be back on it.  Plus I’m more cautious now than I was then.  the going fast and going around turns is what scares me the most.  I felt good the entire ride and I am really proud of myself for stepping way out of my comfort zone to do this.  I will be meeting up with this group as I can.  I don’t live on the same side of town but I can make it work since my boys go visit their grandparents on a regular basis and it’s not more than 1 hour from my house up there.  This group also trains for triathlons so I will be working with them to start officially training next year.

I rode for 1 hour and 43 minutes for over 20 miles.  I actually got up to speeds as fast as 33 miles per hour going down hill and on flatter areas over 23 miles while pedaling. Sorry I don’t have any pics of me I’m sure I will have some the next time.  I am sore but not near as bad as I thought I would be.  My legs are in better shape than I thought.  Guess all the running pays off.  Today I am chilling with my little guy since he still had a fever this morning.  I’m hoping that will stop today but we will see.   So there you go, I did everything I planned and I’m thrilled with how I did.  This week I will take it easy but will keep moving.