Running With The Cows Race Recap

The past week, I made my annual trek back home to my home state of Kansas to visit with my family. When I was planning this trip, I searched for local races to run in (who doesn't) and found this local race that got rave reviews. My nieces were interested in running the 5k, so I signed us all up.

Race day morning came pretty early! I woke up at 3:15 and we left the house at 5:30. We opted to do packet pick-up the morning of the race.

[caption id="attachment_775" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Flat Vicki with planned outfit. Morning of race decided to swap shorts for capris.[/caption]

It was a chilly 42 degrees when I woke up... with a real-feel of 38. I am no fan of the cold, so I rethought my race outfit of shorts and a tank. Thankfully I had brought capris and a long sleeved shirt. There was one point early in the race I thought that I would take off the long sleeves, but that moment passed pretty quickly. I felt comfortable with my sleeves on during the entire race.

We got to the race site in good time (even after a missed exit), picked up our packets, dropped my bag and headed to the porta-potties. Little did I know... waiting in line for the loo is a great photo opp time.

[caption id="attachment_762" align="aligncenter" width="300"] HD, me, and RN waiting in line at the porta-potties[/caption]

 

We hurried to the start and I got in line.  There was a lot of hubbub at the start, I couldn't hear if they did a prayer or the Star Spangled Banner.  Pretty soon we were  off!

[caption id="attachment_763" align="aligncenter" width="300"] walking to the start line[/caption]

My nieces ran the 5k, which started 30 minutes after the half.  They got lined up in the same coral as the half and went on part of the same course.

[caption id="attachment_764" align="aligncenter" width="300"] HD and RN ready to start their 5k[/caption]

I ran into a little technical difficulty at the beginning of the race... I had trouble getting my earbuds to pair with my phone.  I don't know why I didn't take care of this during the hour long car ride... but I wound up messing around with them into the first mile.  I finally gave up and opted to run without them. I always used to run without music, so I knew I could handle it.

The scenery was rural northeastern Kansas views. Sadly I did not see any cows along the course.

[caption id="attachment_759" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Beautiful Kansas country side[/caption]

There were some hills... quite a few hills.  Who said Kansas was flat!

[caption id="attachment_758" align="aligncenter" width="300"] A sample of the hills[/caption]

I managed to keep up a 10:01 average mile pace, my splits were all over the place.  I'm thinking it was mostly due to the hills. I walked through a couple water stops.

1 - 10:01
2 - 10:06
3 - 9:41
4 - 9:45
5 - 10:13
6 - 10:14
7 - 9:58
8 - 10:09
9 - 10:18
10 - 10:31
11 - 10:19
12 - 10:07
13 - 9:17
13.1 - 7:56

My hip started hurting me around mile 8 and I popped a couple ibuprofen.  I Started fretting a little about the hurting hip as that is what got me off running several years ago.  I tried digging deep and putting those thoughts to rest. At mile 10 I popped another ibuprofen for good measure and got a good couple sips of water. With only 5k to go, I really wanted to pick up the pace.

Before I knew it we were at the end.  I saw my nieces cheering me on as I got close to the finish... then my nephew as I turned the first corner headed to the finish line. He really helped me power through the end as he ran beside me yelling for me to finish strong.

[caption id="attachment_765" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Finishing strong[/caption]

I had a really good race, and did well against my goals I set out for the race:

1. Start out slow. Achieved, I definitely did not kill myself at the beginning, and had fuel in the tank to crank it up at the end.


2. Time goals ... my basic goal is to finish better than my last half 2:18... with that in mind I have an A, B, and C goal.  C goal - 2:17; B goal - 2:15, A goal - 2:13. I finished with a time of 2:12:14.  My "a game" goal was 2:13.  I was so happy to have accomplished it.


3. Have fun ... enjoy getting to share the day, and love for running with HD and RN. Definitely achieved.

[caption id="attachment_770" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Such a cute medal...the cow is a little charm[/caption]

We hung out after the race for some time... eating from the massive buffet, taking pictures and enjoying the petting zoo!

[caption id="attachment_766" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Plenty of fun photo opps![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_767" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The cute baby cow... it really got tired of me.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_768" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The goats were so fun to feed![/caption]

I was even fortunate enough to see a couple bloggers that I follow - Renee from My Brave Wings and Cassondra from Running with Reds.  It was great to meet these ladies since I enjoy reading their blogs.

This was a very fun event!  There were a lot of things for my spectators to do so that they didn't get bored waiting for me to finish (which is saying a lot when you are talking about 11 and 12 year olds). The post-race food was like nothing I have ever seen.  Volunteer support was phenomenal.  This is one race I could see myself doing again and again.

Post race...  after stretching, foam rolling and soaking I made Cauliflower Korma for the family (recipe to come on Monday) and we all got my momma's strawberry shortcake for dessert!!

[caption id="attachment_760" align="aligncenter" width="300"] My treat after the race... momma's homemade strawberry shortcake![/caption]

I'm also happy to report that my nieces now have the racing bug and are trying to figure out what 5k they can do next!

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I'm linking up with Nicole, Annmarie, Angelena Marie, and Michelle for Wild Workout Wednesday and HoHo Runs and MissSippi Piddlin’ for the Weekly Wrap.