River Valley Ranch 5K

One of my greatest joys in life is being a mom.  I've always wanted to be one, and God has certainly blessed me with that desire of my heart.  The love I have for my kids is even stronger and more amazing than I thought it could be.

I have found that I can often get too wrapped up in being a mom, and focused on all things motherhood.  It is my occupation, and I do spend all day doing it, but I know it is so important to still have things that are mine. That make me me.

A passion of mine is running.  I crave that run first thing in the morning, and end up feeling awake and refreshed, and also, I have more energy throughout the day.  I enjoy connecting with other runners and doing races.  And I love competing with myself and seeing improvement over time.

I hadn't run a race since November 2013 when I was about 3 months pregnant with Jonah.  This past week week I looked online to see when the River Valley Ranch (a local Christian camp) run was going to be, and it just so happened to be going on today.  They have a well known 10K trail race that I've wanted to do, but for the past few years I've always had something stopping me from doing it (injury, new baby, bridal shower).  At first I planned to run the 10K, but after looking online and seeing how hilly it was, I knew that I did not have the training under my belt that I would need for it.

race bib 

So I decided to run the 5K road race.  I was really hesitant to do it because it meant I would be away for 3+ hours, and I was stressed about Jonah being able to eat.  I left the house at 6 a.m. so it would have been a lot to get Luke and the kids up and ready.  Plus that would have been a lot for Luke to handle while we were there, and he is so not a morning person.  Luke encouraged me to go, knowing that I needed to do something for me and feel like I could be away from Jonah without the world ending.

I gave Jonah a dream feed around 5:20 and then got myself ready to go and drove up to Manchester, MD. It was an absolutely beautiful day and perfect for running. I registered for the race when I got there, and then hung out for about an hour while the 15K and 10K got started.

The 5K started at 8:30 and was an out and back on basically two roads. The first mile I completed in 8:10, which was right about what I was aiming for. I felt strong. So I decided to start pushing it a little more, and set my sights on different people with an aim to pass them.  The second mile I did in 7:20, and by then I had passed the turn around point. During the third mile I stuck mainly with one guy, matching his pace and letting the slight decline carry me down. With a final kick in the end, I completed the third mile in 6:50 for a total of 22:48 (according to my garmin).

got this picture in a text from Luke

It was a lot of fun, well organized, and I enjoyed the Christian atmosphere.  They have a lot of stuff for families to do so hopefully we can bring the littles some day.  By the time I got home, Jonah had gone about 5 hours without eating. Luke tried to give him a bottle, but that was a no go. At least they all survived!