Crystal: 4 Miles 4 Mom Race Recap

Over the weekend I ran the 4 Miles 4 Mom race with my boyfriend, Kyle.

At the starting line, I'm off to the left

I was looking forward to this race because a) it was cheap, $25 what what! and b) it wasn't too far from home. The morning of the race was a different story, I was fucking tired and just wanted to sleep in! The race started at 7 am, which on one hand was nice because that meant cooler temps (high for the day was 101 degrees, woof) but on the other hand, waking up that early on a Saturday never gets easy. On top of that, I woke up feeling dehydrated, which is very common for me once the temperature hits about 90+. I shuffled around the house, grouchy and eyes half open. I chugged a glass full of Jack3d and gathered the usual race day essentials: arm band, headphones, Garmin  hydration belt (I made the mistake of not using it for my last race and felt like shit because of it), Lara Bar and then we were on our way! When we get to the race I'm feeling more awake, but I'm still not excited about the race. My last 5k I had a 12:12 pace and was not happy with it. I knew the heat would bring me down, but I was hoping for something in the 10 minute range today. I decided early on that this would not be PR race, I was just going to pace myself and enjoy it. I stayed with Kyle, running in the 11 minute pace range and I felt good. I always make the mistake of running too hard and burning out, I wanted to avoid that today. I had the sweet notion of running with Kyle the entire race but that changed as soon as I shouted to Kyle our current mileage and time (he doesn't run with a watch or running app to track time/distance) to which he responded "SHH!" and even motioned his finger to his lips. That was it. I was annoyed. We came up on a turn and I bolted! Haha. It was pretty ridiculous but in the end I ran a quicker race because of it.  

This man is a BADASS!

About one mile from the finish, I came up behind an older man who I had seen at multiple races before, including my half marathon. Even at the half marathon I had to catch up to him and barely passed him in the end. He 's not able to perform a full stride and even looks as if he's in pain sometimes, but he always keeps his momentum passing people half his age! He has got to be at least 75 years old but this guy has the biggest calves around. This man is my hero and I hope to see him around soon!

At the finish line, stopping my running app, lol

I didn't stop at all (well, unless you count me stopping to drown myself in ice water at one of the drink stations)! My final time was 41:48 for a 10:27 pace! Hooray! I felt amazing afterwards for not letting the heat bring me down to a 12 minute pace again. I think the dorky white hat I bought the night before really helped too.

My favorite running partner :)

Hope everyone is getting in their final races before the heat really kicks in!

-Crystal