Miller Park Zoo Stampede {March 3, 2018}

2018 Miller Park Zoo Stampede 5k

Peoria, IL 10:00am

-22:17 (7:11 pace per mile) *with stroller/Gabey!*

-1st in F26-35 AG out of 43 (weird age group range again - just like the Frosty 5k in Peoria in Jan! Is this a new thing or something?! Ha!)

-4th Female of 155

-22nd overall of 279

(My 2nd race of the 2018 season)

This race was informally on my radar because I thought running with Gabe through our local zoo would be fun - I thought he might get a kick out of seeing some animals during our run, and I was pretty sure from previous years (I volunteered in 2016 with friends Tanya and Amber while I was pregnant with Gabe!) that the age-group awards were something animal-related which could be fun to give to Gabe.

However, this day was also my good friend Jillian's daughter Ruby's big 4th birthday! She had planned a little birthday party/concert trip that included herself/Ruby/Ruby's little sister Nadya (my goddaughter), our friend Susan and her son Asa, and myself + Gabe. Of course I didn't give the race another thought and was instead SUPER pumped for the concert (Laurie Berkner in Peoria!). I was SUPER sad/disappointed (though not nearly as much as Jillian and the birthday girl!!) when Laurie apparently got stuck in NYC in a snow storm Friday night prior to the Saturday morning Peoria show and the show got canceled! WAHHHHH!!!! Jillian ended up quickly planning a substitute musical party that involved the wonderful Meryl Brown at her music therapy business in town that would go down on Saturday afternoon. Therefore, I had Saturday morning unexpectedly "free." Well...why not go for a nice little jaunt through the zoo, after all!?

Saturday morning, we woke up and got ready to head out to Miller Park, where the race was held.  Clint decided to come with us (thanks, Dada!) which was really nice. As we drove to the race, I thought about my plan/goals for the day - really, I just wanted to get in a good/quality tempo workout and I knew that running in a 5k race situation would ensure that I pushed the pace for at least those 3 miles.

Prior to the race, I needed to make a visit to the bathroom...but the downstairs bathrooms were super crowded. I was happy that the "secret upstairs bathrooms" were NOT crowded so Gabe and I enjoyed a moment of silliness in the bathroom before heading outside to run.

I went out for a mile warm-up through Miller Park, nice and slow, and Gabe enjoyed getting to view the large train near the entrance of the park ("CHOO CHOO! CHOO CHOO!").  We made our way into the starting area and lined up near Julie Sibley and chatted a bit.  A girl who looked fast-ish had lined up behind me/to my right and I could tell she kept looking at my stroller with irritation. I turned around, smiled, and kindly said, "Do you want to get in front of me?" She nodded and I scooted a bit to the side to let her past. Communication, people! You help me and I'll help you! I know there are many people who get annoyed by strollers in races but I really do try to do my best to anticipate other peoples' feelings and stay out of peoples' way (even if it includes things like going wayyy to the outside on turns since most people naturally want to take the inside).

Soon enough we got the starting signal and we were off! I did my best to break out of the starting corral as quickly as possible, as usual, and to navigate around the crowd of runners without getting in anyones' way. We turned to the right and looped around the zoo parking lot and over past Gabe's beloved train. Mile 1 was over in 7:05. Satisfactory. As has become my MO lately, I just wanted to keep things as "close" to 7:00 as possible.

I felt things slowing down during mile 2...I just didn't feel any get-up-and-go, but I tried to keep pushing.  Mile 2 was over in 7:21.

Somewhere in the third mile there was an ascent that really isn't TOO steep but was enough of an incline to be annoying. As is typical whenever there is any kind of incline when I am pushing Gabe, I curse my decision to push the stroller and will my arms to somehow stay attached to my body.  The uphill challenge is rewarded by a descent down around the lake and around the back of the pavilion before the course goes into the actual zoo for just a bit. I pointed out some sort of elk-looking creature to Gabe (??) before rounding the final curves and heading out of the zoo to the finish. Mile 3 beeped in a slower 7:31 (I will say, navigating the stroller through the hairpin turns inside the zoo portion of the course did make for a challenge).

Nearing the finish line, cheered on by some sort of dino-creature! :)

The final 0.1 was in a 8:25 pace, however I didn't stop my watch right away as I crossed the finish and definitely slowed down...so who knows what it actually was. My 22:17 clock time/7:11average pace was just over 30 seconds behind the Frosty 5k that I ran with Gabe five weeks prior (21:44) which was kind of disappointing but I shook it off...it is what it is!

After crossing the finish line, we continued on right away to get in a mile cooldown to be sure to get in 5 total miles for the day.  After our cooldown, we made our way into the very crowded pavilion where I got a nice stretch-out performed by a PT group that was there (felt great!). After that, we hung around and I ate a banana with Gabey while we waited for awards. I was excited to get 1st in my age group (a large age group again!) and to earn a little painting done by a snow leopard who lives at the zoo - cute/fun!

On our way back to our car, Gabe insisted on visiting the playground for a bit and of course we had to oblige him (though it wasn't quite as warm as it looks in the pics!).

After some playtime, we headed home for lunch and a nap for Gabe. After naptime, we went to Ruby's birthday party where Gabe had an absolute blast. It was so wonderful to be able to celebrate a special birthday with great friends. The party also happened to be at the same place where we had Gabe's first birthday and where he took music classes all summer last year. It was fun to be "back"!

Next up - a St. Pat's weekend 5k two-fer!