Saturday, was the first of my fall races. Briggs & Al's Run & Walk for Children's Hospital is an annual event in Milwaukee. The event has been a tradition in Milwaukee for almost 40 years. The turnout is always huge- over 2000 people! The event itself is designed around the kids. There are no medals or top finisher awards at this event. Prior to race start, there is a lot to do! Champions Breakfast for the champion kids, mascots to take pictures with, local school bands playing music, free coffee, and lots of people coming together for a great cause.
To get to the starting line, we parked at the finish line and took one of the 40+ shuttle buses being provided. We had decided we'd rather walk to the bus before the start then walk to our car after the race. We had done that at our half marathon and it was one of the longest walks we'd ever taken (not literally, but it physically felt like that). The walk to the bus was a bit brisk and overcast, but that was a good hour prior to the start. By the time the race started it was 60s and sunny! When we got to the bus drop, we did a bathroom stop. I then grabbed a free cup of coffee and we walked toward the front of the starting line. Of course, I made us take a ton of selfies together :)
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| Taking the Shuttle Bus |
The wheelchair race started at 10:15 and the runners started at 10:30 with the Elites being at the front. Elites are the only ones with different race bibs that distinguish their level. The starting corals started at 6min miles and back. The race corals weren't monitored and I wanted to be close to the start. My fiancé and I ran into one of his best friends about 10 minutes before the start and all lined up together. Less then 2 minutes into the race, our friend took off follow a "cute girl".
The start of the race is straight down Wisconsin Ave with a bit of a hill decline to an incline. The first mile I could tell we were taking it out a bit fast and Id rather run smart then fast. I finished the race not feeling very sweaty or out of breath. I probably could've gone a lot harder, but my mental game got in the way in the end and I was struggling. The first mile I was all smiles and feeling great. I hit mile 1 in 7:48. Going into mile 2, we were running past the top of the art museum and rounding on to Prospect Ave with another small incline. That incline hit my legs. I felt tired and slowed down my pace. I had to hit my fiancé's arm a few times during the race to let him know I was falling behind otherwise he would have just kept going. He is a strong runner and can hold his speed for more miles than I can hold mine. I'm a sprinter, but he definitely has the strength and endurance to run long distances. The end of mile 2 had us running down Layfette hill and turning onto Lincoln Memorial Drive past Collectivo. I hit mile 2 in 8:15.
Mile 3 took us straight down Lincoln Memorial Drive. I could feel my legs getting tired. The first photographer of the race was during mile 3. My fiancé and I threw our arms around each other and flashed the "hang loose" hand sign (its his thing) with big smiles. I hit mile 3 in 8:33. Mile 4 was the same. Except this is the mile I felt like I was dying and definitely slowed my pace. I refused to walk even though I desperately wanted to. I'm just not in as good of shape as I used to be. I told my fiancé he could go run ahead of me, but got the answer I'm learning to accept- "No, I'm running with you". If he hadn't been by my side I would've given up. I kind of did mentally at this point. I just let people run pass me and didn't try to push myself harder. We saw another photographer right after the mile 4 marker. Mile 4 continued down Lincoln memorial drive. I hit mile 4 in 9:09.
Mile 5 was the homestretch! We turned off of Lincoln Memorial Drive and started running into the third ward. I felt myself give up at the beginning of that mile, and hitting the last 0.4 miles to go, I felt my motivation suddenly come back. I turned to the final stretch and began to pick up my pace, I think I threw off my fiancé on that, because next thing he knew I was taking off. There were 2 roads we had to run down to reach the finish line. As we turned onto the second, I got hit with a wave of defeat. The finish line was further down then I had thought and I was booking it. I slowed my pace to let myself mentally catch up to what I had expected and then we took off down the finish line together and finished hand in hand. I finished mile 5 in 9:02.
Overall, I'm glad I ran and finished. This was the longest I have run, without stopping, since I started training again. I couldn't have finished without my fiancé by my side. I cant wait to do it all over again this weekend. I have trained 2 days this week so far- so slacking and not prepared to race 6.2 but I will go out there and have fun and do my best to not hold myself back from pushing myself.
Until Next time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzB_xGKpEtU
The start of the race is straight down Wisconsin Ave with a bit of a hill decline to an incline. The first mile I could tell we were taking it out a bit fast and Id rather run smart then fast. I finished the race not feeling very sweaty or out of breath. I probably could've gone a lot harder, but my mental game got in the way in the end and I was struggling. The first mile I was all smiles and feeling great. I hit mile 1 in 7:48. Going into mile 2, we were running past the top of the art museum and rounding on to Prospect Ave with another small incline. That incline hit my legs. I felt tired and slowed down my pace. I had to hit my fiancé's arm a few times during the race to let him know I was falling behind otherwise he would have just kept going. He is a strong runner and can hold his speed for more miles than I can hold mine. I'm a sprinter, but he definitely has the strength and endurance to run long distances. The end of mile 2 had us running down Layfette hill and turning onto Lincoln Memorial Drive past Collectivo. I hit mile 2 in 8:15.
Mile 3 took us straight down Lincoln Memorial Drive. I could feel my legs getting tired. The first photographer of the race was during mile 3. My fiancé and I threw our arms around each other and flashed the "hang loose" hand sign (its his thing) with big smiles. I hit mile 3 in 8:33. Mile 4 was the same. Except this is the mile I felt like I was dying and definitely slowed my pace. I refused to walk even though I desperately wanted to. I'm just not in as good of shape as I used to be. I told my fiancé he could go run ahead of me, but got the answer I'm learning to accept- "No, I'm running with you". If he hadn't been by my side I would've given up. I kind of did mentally at this point. I just let people run pass me and didn't try to push myself harder. We saw another photographer right after the mile 4 marker. Mile 4 continued down Lincoln memorial drive. I hit mile 4 in 9:09.
Mile 5 was the homestretch! We turned off of Lincoln Memorial Drive and started running into the third ward. I felt myself give up at the beginning of that mile, and hitting the last 0.4 miles to go, I felt my motivation suddenly come back. I turned to the final stretch and began to pick up my pace, I think I threw off my fiancé on that, because next thing he knew I was taking off. There were 2 roads we had to run down to reach the finish line. As we turned onto the second, I got hit with a wave of defeat. The finish line was further down then I had thought and I was booking it. I slowed my pace to let myself mentally catch up to what I had expected and then we took off down the finish line together and finished hand in hand. I finished mile 5 in 9:02.
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| Running to the Finish Line! |
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| We Finished!! |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzB_xGKpEtU
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