Rotary Shamrock 5K Shuffle Race Report
Well, I used my pacer, Terry, at the Rotary Shamrock Shuffle 5K in McHenry yesterday,
and have a new PR of 23:54! That is 57 seconds off of my old 5K PR of 24:51 (from July of 2009)! Woo hoo!
Terry is a friend of mine from the Grayslake Running Club. I cannot thank Terry enough for coming out early on Sunday morning (on the first day of Daylight Savings Time, and after a night that included a few drinks, no less) to pace me! Thanks Terry!
As you can see from the photo above, we started right at the start line. It was a small race (somewhere between 100-200 people) and not chip timed. I felt like I started too far back at the Frosty Footrace and wasn’t going to make that mistake twice (I also remembered to double-knot my shoelaces)!
Terry had worked out a plan for us to hit just below 24:00. We would start out fast, get our adrenaline going, then try to take it easy the second mile, and finish strong.
Mile 1 – 7:24 – Well, we sure went out fast! After I got used to the pace, and got up some small hills, I felt good.
Mile 2 – 7:42 – I got in to the swing of things and felt comfortable at this pace. I was thanking volunteers and cheering on other runners who passed us (only a few) and runners coming back from the out and back. My legs felt kind of heavy, but it was no big deal. I commented to Terry on how good I felt.
Mile 3 – 7:59 – This was when my brain said “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” and my stomach said “WHOA, I DON’T THINK SO!” My stomach started to twist and cramp (I ate too much the night before). Terry stayed a bit ahead of me to keep me going. He was awesome and motivating, saying things like “Remember when Pre ran with that foot injury?” (we had just watched Without Limits together) and “Only 4 minutes left!,” “You can do this! Use your inner mantra.” Terry really helped me keep going, especially thinking about only having four minutes left to run, as opposed to a distance! Again, thanks Terry!
Mile 3.1 – 00:54 (7:59 pace) – Despite my desire to sprint out the finish, I could only muster an 8:00mm effort! But I still got my PR!
Garmin stats here (notes: it was in the high 20s, and we ran a warm-up mile at 8:17 pace).
Here’s Terry encouraging me at the finish:
Smiling because I knew I was going to make my goal (click to make larger):
Excited about the clock time (again, click to make larger):
I’m still not sure on my final time, but it was probably 23:54!
Yay, we did it!
Of course, we stuck around for awards, and I got second place in my age group (20-29) – the icing on the cake!
What a great (early) start to the day. I kind of thought I was done racing 5Ks after Frosty, but this one made me feel confident and strong! I have a few coming up that are just for fun, but I may try to race a few more this summer or next winter. I just love the cold weather races.
Thanks AGAIN to Terry! And a HUGE thanks to Steven, who got up super early and waited around before the race for an hour, during the race, and after the race for another hour, AND took all of these photos. He is so supportive of my running and I really do appreciate it. And I do miss running with you, Steven!
Confession: we took a two hour nap after the race! That lost hour really affects me. And I did take my “pre-game” nap the day before the race (picture below). Ha ha ha.
And one more time: Yay!
Themocracy
Total awesomeness!!!
Congratulations! That is awesome!
I am also pretty sure that I know the guy you ran with. What a small world!
Thanks!
How cool! How do you know Terry?
Congratulations on your amazing race!!
Congrats on the PR! That is awesome. 2011 racing has good things to come for you I believe!
CONGRATS!! I know you have a little speed demon inside of you just waiting to come out! Great job and hopefully there are more 5k PRs to come!
You are a lean, meaning running machine! I LOVE the pictures! I’m grinning ear to ear right now looking at your “medal shot”. So cool! The nap pictre with Data is adorable…
Congrats on the PR!
I’m so happy for you!!
Congratulations on the huge PR! Great photos!
Thanks! And thanks for visiting my blog!
Nice work on the time! Gotta love a new PR!!!
Nice work!!
I am so thrilled for you! You did awesome and I love that Terry volunteered to be your pacer. What a nice guy!
Congrats on an awesome PR 🙂
WOOHOO! Congrats! That’s a GREAT PR! 🙂
You did such a great job!! Congratulations!
Congrats on your rockin’ PR! So proud of you Kim!!! 🙂
Congrats!!! Wahoo! PRs for both of us this weekend 🙂 I can only hope that someday I am as speedy as you though…haha 🙂
Cool! Congrats on your PR! I am excited to read about it!
That’s a huge 5k PR! Congrats!
Congrats!!! So exciting to get a new PR.
I agree that counting down the minutes left instead of distance seems easier. Unless it’s like “only 44 minutes to go” -that’s a bit much. 🙂
Yay indeed! Conrats on the PR! That’s a fantastic time!
Dang, girl! That is amazing!!!
that’s so awesome!! way to go!
glad the nap worked for ya’. i took one before my 10k, and hit my goal too! what what!?
Schweet! I am excited to read about it!
This is great news!!! YAY!!!! you totally deserved the nap!
Congrats on the PR! I love seeing how you used a friend/running partner to pace you! I’ve only ever used the event pacing at half-marathon distance events… excited by the idea at shorter distances 🙂
WHOA!!! Congratulations!! That is an awesome time! You rock!
Wow, Kim, what a great racing experience. Well, except for the body going WTF during the third mile. But, what a great time!!!
Sadly, I was excited the time change was losing an hour and not gaining an hour. The baby has been waking up an hour earlier anyway, so I figured he’d finally wake up right on time!!! hahaha.
Congratulations! That is awesome!!
I think a pacer is wise- I have used one twice and been glad I did. I plan to use on for my marathon this year as well. And congrats on the awesome PR!
That time is awesome! Congrats on your PR. I think I’ve only managed about 26 mins for a 5k, so I have something to strive for now.
That lost hour really kicked me too, this baby thing is making me SUPER tired.
A race well run. Congrats.
And nice that you took a nap afterward (with Data keeping your legs and feet warm). The lost hour will never return… oh wait, it does in the fall, but it’s just not the same.
Oh my gosh! You SMOKED your old time! Awesome, awesome job, Kim – you are so fast!!!
Yay!! I love it! Congratulations! That is one hell of a PR!
It sounds like you had an awesome support team for the race! Plus you have some mighty speedy legs too. 🙂
Congrats on the PR! You are really increasing your speed a lot from when I first started reading your blog! You also look like you have lost weight! Sorry to be so abrupt and I hope you don’t take offense to me saying this but you look even more fit now! Hope all is well! 🙂
Thanks Ashley! Ha ha, and I don’t take offense! I have been trying to eat healthier and get to a healthier weight (partially so I can run faster) so thanks for noticing!!! 🙂
Wow, you did great! Your hair looks really long, and pretty. I’m so proud of you.
Thanks! I am actually going to get a trim soon, and I hope they do not want to cut too much of it off! 🙂
Congrats on the PR and awesome medal! You are on a roll now.
Wow, awesome job Kim! That is super speedy! Woohoo!