Town and Gown 5k {October 21, 2017}

Town and Gown (iSU’s Homecoming 5k)

October 21, 2017

8:00am

21:07 // 3rd Overall Female out of 177 // 1st 30-39 AG out of 45 // 22/322 Overall // 1st stroller ;)

(My 17th race of the 2017 season)

So originally I had thought I would do this race since (a) I work at ISU and all that and (b) I have run the event in the past and have enjoyed it (I ran it last year in 21:05 *without the stroller* and was the overall female winner and ran it in 2016 in 22:49 at 13 weeks or so pregnant). Like a week or so out I decided NOT to do it because, eh, it’s another race entry…I would rather sleep in…blah blah blah. Well on Wednesday prior to the race, my friend Sharon Carr texted to ask if Gabe and I were running because she was planning to run with her little guy Charles (he is just one month younger than Gabe). Well, I couldn’t say no to a good excuse to hang out with them! So, I decided to give it a go :).  

I won’t lie, since (a) I was the top female at Town and Gown last year, and (b) I was the top female at Augustana’s little 5k last weekend, I thought it would be cool to try to go for another win. Spoiler alert, it wasn’t in the cards.  

The day before the race, I got a call at 9:45 from our daycare provider that Gabey was sick - she told me he had a temperature of over 101 degrees and I could hear him SCREAMING “mamamamama” in the background. I quickly made arrangements to head out and got on the road to go rescue my poor sick boy. I picked him up and got him home, read some books and snuggled (he wouldn’t let me out of his sight - or really out from under himself as he sat on me, for that matter!), and shortly thereafter he went down for a nap. I hemmed and hawed regarding the decision to bring him to the doctor or not bring him to the doctor, and ended up waking him up around 4pm to bring him to our pediatrician’s walk-in hours.  

The doctor checked him out and informed me that his throat was very red and he had white bumps on his tonsils - ugh! They ran a rapid strep test - negative.  They said it was just a virus and would need to run its course.  So, we headed home and laid low that night, with lots of snuggles and some cold smoothie-action to help soothe that poor throat of his.  I texted Sharon to let her know that we might not be doing the race after all.  

I put him down for bed on the early side and decided to set my alarm for 6ish - I thought I would proceed as if I was racing and assess the situation with Gabe and make an appropriate game-day decision.  I rationalized (right, wrong, or otherwise!) with the fact that he would be outside getting fresh air that would be GOOD for him and I wouldn’t be letting him get out of the stroller to touch other people/kids and spread whatever germs he had.  I cautiously ventured into Gabe’s bedroom and he woke up pretty easily - he seemed a little warm, but the thermometer read that he didn’t have a fever (though, I won’t lie, he was thrashing around - who wants a thermometer up their rear end anyway?!?! UGH!!). So, we decided to go on our way!

He was in great spirits and seemed eager to go on yet another “adventure” with Mama. We got in the car - and of course had to bring his trusty bestie, Bawk-Bawk the rubber chicken (seriously - he is obsessed with this silly/gross rubber chicken!).  Parking is always a great time on Homecoming weekend. The parking “helpers” are less than helpful and are really just there to yell at you about where you CAN’T park without any helpful advice about where you CAN park. We drove around for a while and ended up finding some street parking on the same street as the race start - sweet!

We parked and I loaded up the stroller. We headed over to the registration table to get registered and saw Steve and Paul! Sweet!! I hadn’t even thought about the fact that I might see other teammates there, since my decision to run it was so last minute it had totally slipped my mind!

After registering, I ran back to my car to drop off my packet (I love the soft t-shirts this year!) and then ran over to Metcalf to use the bathroom (perks of working on campus - a key fob to get me into places with non-crowded bathrooms!).  I then got in an easy mile warm-up, during which some older guy joked, “Gotta get those wheels warmed up!” Heck yes I do, sir!  As my warmup was coming to a close, I spotted Clint with Paul and Steve - he had run from home and had met us at the course. He warned me that there was a gross hill on part of the course and gestured to an area somewhere behind the starting area that I estimated would be later on in the race.

After our warmup, I found Sharon and Charles and we lined up near the front. I told her to line up right behind me - because I clearly wouldn’t mind if she hit me with her wheel (which she did - and I TRULY didn’t care - been there!! :)). I lined up right behind Paul (sorry to crowd you, Paul ;)). We were enlightened by some group fitness instructors leading a “warmup” and before long it was GO time!  I had my longish-shot goal of getting 1st overall female in my head and had ID’ed 4ish fast-looking girls - two young girls in red T-shirts, a girl in an ISU tank and shorty-shorts (cross country team?), and a thin/fit looking girl in leggings and a neon long-sleeve.

I did my best to make a clean and fast break out from the starting line. As I told Sharon when she asked for some stroller-racing tips (she had only raced with Charles one time prior to Town and Gown), I always try to get as far away from everyone else as I can as fast as I can - both for my sake and theirs.  I stayed to the outside and ran next to Paul for a while. By the time we took the first right-hand turn, I was in front of Paul (see ya soon, Paul!!).  Also of note, during the first straight-away prior to that turn, I managed to get in front of all of the women other than the two young girls in red T-shirts (never to be seen again by me…darn speedy kids!!!) and a third surprise woman in a pink tank top.

The course takes a slight uphill on College before going down a hill and then a right-hand turn took us into Uptown Normal. Two more right-hand turns and we were through the circle…and there was Clint spectating in front of Coffee Hound with Eric Fortune!  At this point, pink tank top girl and I were side by side but I could feel that she would fade soon.  I tried to stay as strong and chipper as I could to psych her out. I chatted with Gabe as he pointed out dogs and birds and other things he saw and tried my hardest to keep my voice even and strong and not to sound “out of breath” (though I could feel that I was pushing it with my pace).  We ran past Clint and shortly thereafter mile 1 beeped in 6:46. What-whaaaat?

I muscled past pink tank top girl and turned to the left as mile 2 began.  At this point, I could tell that the course had been changed from the previous few years - sweet, maybe it would be an actual 3.1 and not a 3.0-course!  Before long, I was *thrilled* to see that Clint was right - there was a gross new hill on the course. I did my best to power up that dang thing (I could feel my pace dropping) and then headed to the right…back to the starting area.  Every now and then I would sneak a glance behind me to check to see if any girls were gaining on me.  I knew Sharon wasn’t far behind because she sent up a cheer (that I returned) when we saw one another after the hill.  I also noticed that Paul was pretty much right behind me. "I wonder how long I can hold him off?” I asked myself.

Mile 2 clicked off in 7:02 at the corner of University and College…so much for holding a sub-7 pace for all 3 miles today!  I headed back up the hill on College and felt my pace slow more. UGH. THIS HURRRRTS. Paul pulled up next to me and I informed him, “Paul, we are DYING!” (as if any of this was Gabe’s fault!). “You go get it!” He didn’t need my permission, of course, and moved on past me effortlessly. Thanks a lot, Paul.

I rounded the corner into Uptown Circle and ran down toward Coffee Hound where I once again saw Clint.  He ran with us for a few strides before sprinting on ahead (thanks - don’t want to get me disqualified for accepting outside aid!!) to catch us at the finish.  I did my best to buckle down and push hard to the finish.  Mile 3 clicked off in a somewhat-disappointing 7:07. I crossed the finish in 21:07 - HILARIOUS to me because this was a minute faster on the nose than last week’s 5k at Augustana (which was without a stroller and with a slight off-course portion).

I finished 1st in my age group…pink tank top lady came up to me and asked me to please tell her what age group I was in. I am not sure what age group she is in, but I would assume she just wanted to be sure I wasn’t in hers? No clue, for the record. Kinda funny because I remembered her from last year when she came up to me like that! Last year, she came up to me in similar fashion because she had gotten 2nd overall and I had gotten 1st…she was very concerned because, according to the results, there was a woman who had finished ahead of me. Further investigation revealed that a guy was wearing a girl’s tag and I did in fact get first female. She was more concerned about this than I was - basically because she wanted to be sure she won her age group. Whatevs! I was kind of oblivious, but excited to find out I won last year!

It would’ve been fun to win again ;), but I am satisfied with my performance (especially considering my training hasn’t been amazing lately). It was a really fun day with lots of fun people. Glad to see you there Paul and Steve (and, of course, Clint!)!!

This year - red T-shirt girls took 1 and 2 females…in 19:11 and 19:15 at ages 12 and 13. OHHHHHHHH jealousy!! :) :)

THANK YOU to all the usual (amazing) suspects -

MITCH

SAUCONY

TEAMMATES

CLINT

Dome Dash 5k {October 14, 2017}

Dome Dash (Augustana College’s Homecoming 5k)

October 14, 2017

8:00am

22:07/1st Overall Female

(My 16th race of the 2017 season)

In early September, my good friend Brooke reached out to me to see if I was interested in going back to our undergrad alma mater, Augustana College, for some Homecoming festivities.  While I definitely think highly of the college (and have a not-so-secret maybe-desire to one day work there, depending, of course, on many different life factors for our family) - I am definitely not the “school spirit” type and Homecoming festivities are far from on my radar.  We joke about “sportsing” in the Wells household - while we definitely don’t hate on sports (I see a true value in team sports)…we are just clueless about them over here.  I didn’t grow up in a “sportsing” family and have never understood football, not even a little bit. I think I am a at least fairly intelligent person, but when I stare at a football field with people running all over, I go totally blank. No clue what’s going on.  Anyway, all that to say - going back to homecoming has never been high on my “desire” list because typically homecoming revolves around a football game and that just isn’t my personal idea of fun - I know that I am in the strange minority here :)….maybe i just need lessons.

In addition to the “big game,” though, Augustana’s Communication Sciences and Disorders department (where I completed my degree work) holds a homecoming brunch for past graduates and current students to come back and reminisce about the “good old days” and learn about new things that are happening in the department.  Brooke suggested that it would be fun to go together - and I decided to take her up on the offer to hang out and make it happen.  I knew there was also a Homecoming 5k, but had never done it.  I looked up the info - race start was at 8am and the brunch was at 11am. Perfect! I reached out to my sister to see if she wanted to run it with me (she did!) and to my mom to see if we could stay at their house (of course!).

So, Gabe and I made plans to head up to the Quad Cities Friday night before the race.  We met my mom, Brooke, and my sister and her family at a Mexican restaurant right on the edge of Geneseo (where my parents live) - nothing like some dirty Mexican food the night before a race! YUMMMMM. Gabe and I ate our weight in chips and salsa, and I also had some “special” that involved rice, chicken, cheese and soft corn tortillas to wrap it all up in. Gabe wouldn’t touch his plain chicken taco that I ordered for him - whatever.  After dinner (which was loud and crowded and a little dirty, but still enjoyable), Brooke, Gabe, and I headed over to my parents’.  We chatted for a while - ok, a long while.  Brooke and I don’t see each other very often - and when we do we could literally talk for hours without stopping.  In addition to attending the same undergraduate institution (we actually weren’t friends there - she was a sorority girl and I was a band nerd - but we still have the commonality of having a similar foundation for our speech pathology training at the undergrad level which makes us have lots of nerdy conversations), we were actually roommates for 2 years during grad school when we went to Purdue in Indiana.  We literally did everything together for two years - so much so that professors (and classmates!) would interchange our names quite often. I am pretty convinced that there were people who never actually knew who was who. We lived together, grocery shopped together, had the same research assistantship in the same research lab, had virtually every class together, had almost every clinical placement together, prepped meals and ate together, and worked out together after class. Neither of us were (are?!) morning people, so sometimes we would get up in the morning, get ready in the same bathroom, go downstairs to eat breakfast, pack up a car, and drive down to campus….all without saying a word to each other. But it was ok. We had an “understanding” that never needed to be discussed (though we laugh about it now).

After getting to bed WAY too late, my alarm went off at like 5. I think I got 5 hours of sleep. Maybe. I got ready as quietly as I could and packed up to head out. Brooke was planning to head out to join me later.  I had originally planned to bring Gabe with me, but his Gram (my mom) convinced me that perhaps I should leave him with her.  The weather was a little icky (rainy) and, plus, didn’t I want him to have a good nights’ sleep?! Gram is always right…

I arrived on campus around 7:00am and wandered around to find the packet pickup (located in the middle of the track/football stadium). It became apparent that this was going to be a VERY small race….there were basically no other runners anywhere around.  Whatev! My sister arrived around 7:15 or so and we gathered up her things and then headed out on a mile warmup together.  As we started running, I was reminded of an unfortunate fact - Augie’s campus is NOT flat.  Ugh!!  I didn’t have “big” goals for the race, but I did hope to keep somewhere around a 7-flat pace (21:44ish).

We rounded out our run and made our way to the starting line. I assessed the “situation” quietly and saw one woman in some colorful capri pants who “looked fast.” Other than that, I didn’t see much in the way of female competition. My sister, reading my mind, said, “You’re going to win this!” I said, “nahhhh”…and we took our places on the starting line on the track.  The race director had gone the course in the packet pickup area beforehand and said we would be running approximately 500m on the track before exiting out a certain exit and then would follow orange cones to make our way through campus before returning back to the track to run approximately 300m from our entrance to the finish.

The signal was just the race director shouting over a megaphone…and then we were off.  I settled in on the inside lane of the track behind 3 men.  As we rounded the track, some volunteers pointed us out an exit…but I was thinking in my head, “This is wrong…this is wrong! This is just about 300 meters, I thought it was 500 meters on the track…what the heck? Oh well, follow the leader!” So…I followed the first 3 guys out into a parking lot and, sure enough, WRONG MOVE! Another volunteer yelled at us to go back, so we turned and sprinted back onto the track…right into the thick of the pack at this point.  We fought our way up, laughing (at least I was laughing - one of the lead guys actually did seem mad. Whatever!!).  It wasn’t hard to get back up to the lead of the pack shortly after exiting the track at the CORRECT point.

We went up the first small ascent and then turned to the left to go up MORE.  We crossed a street and then ran past the science building and a computer lab building.  As we approached the library on our right, I saw a long table set up with a big water jug on it and a sleeve of disposable cups. Curious.  I assume this was supposed to be a water stop that didn’t end up getting manned?  I didn’t end up seeing water anywhere else on the course, but water was advertised - so who knows.  I didn’t “need” it so it was all good.  The temps were cool and I never felt desperate for water - though I do feel bad for people who would’ve wanted/needed it!  I entered the “Slough path” and soon my mile 1 sounded at 6:57.  A bit after this, I crossed the 1-mile marker on the course - I seemed to be just under a tenth of a mile over thanks to our little “detour”

I was definitely starting to feel my lack of speed work and I knew my body was slowing significantly.  I came to one small out and back portion of the course which allowed me to see my sister Megan. She was second female! WOOOT! I gave her a cheer which she returned as we passed one another and soldiered on, somewhat renewed.  Mile two was over in 7:24. Oops - I had let my pace drop considerably!

I started in on the third mile with somewhat improved focus and did my best to pick up the pace.  A second small out and back portion was around the mid point of the third mile which meant I saw Megan again - still in second!  I powered UP the last darn hill and made my way back into the Centennial Hall parking lot (the building where I played many a band concert during my time at Augie!) and onto the track.  Mile three somehow was my fastest (by 1 whole second!) at 6:56.  I put my head down and ran as hard as I could to finish out the race. I made my way around the track and crossed the finish line in 22:07 - just over a 7-minute pace. First overall female (I was right - no real competition at this one) and 7th overall…out of a whopping 65 finishers. Megan ended up getting second overall female - so fun to be 1 and 2!  Brooke met us at the finish and we shared some water, granola bars, and bananas before heading out on a reminiscent walk around campus and to the bookstore to buy Gabey a t-shirt and ball.

I ended up wearing my pretty chroma Rides for this race (I hadn’t done a 5k in a while and literally wasn’t even thinking and didn’t pack racing flats!) and they were a delight as always. Maybe lighter shoes would’ve been better but - oh well!

Thanks Mitch - being on this team is just so much darn fun. Thanks Saucony - the gear really is the best. Thanks teammates - love the camaraderie both in person, via e-mail and through social media! And, thanks, Coach Clint (can I still call you that even though I haven’t really been using any real coaching suggestions lately?!).

Next up - Town and Gown 5k and then….the Indianapolis Marathon (Yes. I do mean the full).

Have a great day all :).

`Rachel