HMRRC Mother's Day Race recap

I could not be happier about the race yesterday!

First, though, let me set the scene: It was cold and windy yesterday. As in, 30mph gusts of wind. Windy. And the temperature at race time was around 4o*. Yikes. But, the sun was shining so it didn't feel too bad.

The race started at 10 and I got there around 9:30 to sign up and meet Amanda and Darlene. After signing up, Amanda and I ran a quick half-mile warm up and we were ready to go. We caught up with Darlene and the three of us headed to the start.

It was the 30th running of the HMRRC Mother's Day Race, a 3.5-mile course that winds through a fairly flat, quiet suburban neighborhood. I didn't know what to expect with this race for a few reasons. One, I had never run it before so I wasn't familiar with the course at all. Two, and probably the larger reason, I haven't raced since late February when I was only two months pregnant. Now, at almost 5 months, I wondered what I had in me. Other than the obvious.

I set three goals for myself:

A = 31:30 (9min/mi -- if I was feeling strong)
B = 35:00 (10min/mi)
C = finish feeling good

Well, well, well. I surprised myself and finished in 29:59! That's an 8:34 pace -- just about a minute per mile off what I would normally run, pre-pregnancy. So, basically, you could say that I shattered my goal. Or, you could call me a sand-bagger. I'm comfortable with either one.

I felt strong and really good the entire race. Don't get me wrong, by the end of the race I was ready to be done. But, I never felt like I was pushing it too hard; I felt like I was working and doing a good job at it.

My girls Amanda and Darlene had great races, too! Both of them beat their times from last year by about 5 minutes. Awesome! And Amanda took third place in her age group. Woo hoo!

Here we are after the race:

We look cold because we were!

All in all, it was a terrific time and I am so very happy that I decided to run the race. My itch has been scratched! But, as Darlene pointed out, it is only a matter of time before it comes back :-)

My race stats:

Finish time for 3.5 miles (3.55 on Garmin): 29:59
Mile 1: 8:38
Mile 2: 8:27
Mile 3: 8:20
Last .55 mile: 4:34
Age group place: 14/34
Overall place: 48/138

Happy Monday, everyone!

~ Felice

PS: I have a Subway gift card giveaway over here.
And, MerryMishaps is giving away a Thriv t-shirt here.