DRUMSTICK DASH 5K

Thursday, My fiance and I ran the Drumstick Dash 5K here in Milwaukee.  It was a great way to start our Thanksgiving.  We are both very grateful we are able to participate in the races we have done this year. They may not always go as planned, but doing them together is what matters.  

The weekend before the Drumstick Dash, I went to a local running store to get fitted for a pair or running shoes.  My current ones had over 300 miles on them and *GULP* were Nike Frees. The lack of stability in the Nike Frees explains some of my injuries.  To be honest, i didn't even know what i was running in until last week, i just knew i had Nikes and that they had hit the limit.  The sales associate who helped me at Performance Running in Brookfield was incredible. He knew all details on every shoe he showed me- more on that in a later post. After trying on and running in different shoes, I found that the Brooks PureCadence 4 was the best fit for me. The size i needed wasn't in stores, so they ordered them in for me.  Wednesday, I got a call that my shoes had come in but i had to work.  My fiance was amazing and drove out to get them so i could have new shoes to run in at the Drumstick Dash.

The morning of the run, we got up at 6am.  I made myself a cup of coffee and took my time to get dressed (okay, i snoozed a bit).  We left the house at 6:40 and stopped at his parents real quick so i could drop off my green bean casseroles (yes 2) for our thanksgiving meal later that day.  We arrived at Miller Park around 7:10.  The race didn't start til 8:30 but we wanted to make sure we got parking and had to pick up our race bibs. 

We picked up our Bibs and race packets inside the stadium.  While i was giving the woman helping me my name, i felt someone put their arm around me and a kiss on the cheek from someone with a beard. I was trying to figure out who would do this and was so surprised when i turned around and saw my Dad!  He was volunteering and was there helping with the race packets.  Was such a great surprise.  I made sure to get a picture with my Dad- he was doing Novem-Beard and had grown out a Santa white beard.  Last time i saw my dad with facial hair was a mustache when i was 8 years old. (i cried when he shaved that off, i was an emotional child). 

After getting our packets, we headed back to the car to wait until the race start.  At 750 we decided to do a quick bathroom run before the lines got crazy.  And then we headed over to the start and warmed up a bit.  Only to realize that both of us, with out talking to each other, had somehow decided that we thought the race started at 815.  We had a good laugh about that when at 8:10 we were trying to figure out why no one else was lining up.  After we realized that, we headed back into the stadium to kill some time. 

Eventually, one of the volunteers made an announcement for everyone indoors to head outdoors to start lining up. We maneuvered our way toward the start of the lineup, but positioned ourselves about 6 rows back.  No point in starting with the front runners when we weren't racing to win.  (Plus the winner finished in 14:57).  The announcer started the count down and we were off.  I knew that we were going to face an uphill right away so wanted to race smart.  Our training has increased the past few weeks, so i knew we could run this race faster then our last 5K in October.  We fell into stride with each other and took the hill smart.  Soon after the hill, we were running down hill and hit mile 1.  

Mile 2 was mostly downhill and flat. We had a slight incline right at the end of the mile, but it wasn't anything that we couldn't handle.  Mile 2 i started to feel myself holding back. I didn't want to take things out to hard, but i didn't want to go to slow.  I know i die on mile 3 and didn't want to push myself too hard. 

Mile 3 we headed back toward the stadium and the finish line.  There was another sight downhill, but the rest of the course was flat.  As we rounded the stadium, we saw the finish line and began to pick up our pace. Had i reviewed the course map more careful prior to the race, i could have avoided dying, but lesson learned.  So, we've picked our pace up to a sprint- we think we are about to finish- wrong! The course throws you a curve bar and we have to run a loop to come back to the finish line (and finish on an incline).  I wanted to scream.  I think i actually did.  

I have always been able to pull out a strong finish at every race, it doesn't matter how dead i feel, when i see that finish line, i can bring it in strong.  But now, i had used that energy thinking i was headed to the finish line and still had some distance to go.  I was dead.  I felt my pace slow and the defeat settle in.  My fiance was trying to encourage me to finish strong but i just couldn't wrap my head around it.  Had i looked at my watch,  I also would've seen where we were at and avoided this situation. As we neared the final 20 yards, I was able to find that strong finish and cross the finish line hand in hand with my fiance.  

Overall, i was satisfied with the race.   We finished stronger and faster then we had a month ago.  I didn't feel sweaty or that out of breath at the end though, which tells me i had more to give.  This weekend we are racing another 5K which i know is a flatter course so I am excited to see what we can pull of this weekend. 

Results:

bib number:	1986
overall place:	165 out of 2758
division place:	7 out of 228
gender place:	41 out of 1688
time:	22:44
pace:	7:19