Fort Vallonia Days 5K

My older daughter and I ran this race 2 years ago and I swore I'd never do it again. Worst 5K EVER! At the time, my daughter was running for her middle school cross country team and doing quite well. She wanted to try some 5K's but the challenge was finding one when were available to do one. Saturday mornings were out due to the bazillion other commitments we all had. We found this race and thought it was ideal - run on a Sunday afternoon at 1 pm.  NOT!!

It is part of the Fort Vallonia Days Festival. So where is Vallonia, IN? It's in the middle of no where Southern Indiana - take I-65 South to Seymour, hang a right there onto 50 West, drive to Brownstown, turn onto 135 and drive a couple more miles to Vallonia. MapQuest says it's 70 miles and about an hour and a half from my house.

So, 2 years ago, my daughter J and I set off to run this race. It was a beautiful fall afternoon - sunny and warm. Like 70+ degrees warm... and windy. I was one week out from running the Chicago Marathon and still pretty sore. J had finished her cross country season about 1-2 weeks before and hadn't run since then. In other words, neither one of us were in any racing shape! We had a T-shirt on the line. If she beat me, I'd have to buy her the shirt.

We registered and looked at the course map. It was a straight shot out and back. Then the race started. It was a straight shot uphill, no shade anywhere, with a crosswind that hit you from every direction as you ran across open fields. I would have dropped out at the one mile mark had J not been running right in front of me. It was awful. I felt awful. J wasn't doing much better cause I could see her slowing in front of me. FINALLY, we got to the homestretch. I kicked with about a 100 yards to go and passed her; she kicked and passed me back with 50 to go and beat me. We both ran over 27 minutes. It was bad!

I couldn't outkick that stride!

 

 

So this weekend the competitor in me got the best of me. I've been doing 5K's for the speedwork. Then I found that I was actually doing quite well in the Crossroads of Indiana Race Series. I am in second place in the points standings for the female 40-44 age group. However, you have to run a minimum of 10 races in the series to be eligible for an award. I had run 8 so far. After today's race, there are only 5 races remaining and I can only run in one of them. That meant that I had to run today's race if I was going to get 10 races in.

 

Time wise, I am the fourth fastest woman in my age group. The fastest woman is currently in third place but she has bigger fish to fry and won't be completing 10 races. The next fastest is in first place and will most likely take the series. She and I have run the same number of races. I am in second. The third fastest woman is in fourth place. She will have to run every race til the end of the year to get 10 races in but she very well might do that.

 

#2 and #3 were at the race just as I had guessed they'd be. All I wanted was to get credit for a race. I figured I'd get third in my age group. I was prepared for HOT, WINDY, and UPHILL.

 

Well, they changed the course. Still out and back but not so uphill. Still hot but about 15 degrees cooler than the last time I ran this. Still VERY windy. I ended up 7th female overall and 3rd in my age group, just as I'd figured. This is how it shook out...

 

Mile 1 - 7:28

Mile 2 - 8:03

Mile 3 - 8:12

last 0.1 - 0:41.8

 

Official time - 24:24.8. Average pace - 7:51

 

I told myself before the race that I would be happy with anything under 25:00. I was dead the last mile and vowed that no one would pass me on that last 0.1 since I got passed from behind last week.

 

All in all, I accomplished what I wanted. Was it worth it? I don't know. Somedays I wish I could just shut off that competitive streak. It took me two hours to get to Vallonia because I got a bit lost. After the race I ran straight to the car and drove another 2.5 hours up to Carmel to pick my younger daughter up from "Nutcracker" practice then drove another hour back home. So 5.5 hours in the car. I am sore today. Gee, I wonder why? Got credit for one more race and earned 1 point for my third place finish.

 

I am working all early morning shifts at work until the marathon so hopefully my sleep schedule will be somewhat normal. I got up at 4:30 am today to go to work. I got 30 minutes in on the exercise bike after work for my cross-training day workout. I also made appointments to see my chiropractor and my massage therapist next week.

 

12 more days!