Sunday, July 21, 2013

Meramec Vineyards Wine into Water 5K Race recap!

Get ready for loads of photos!  At this point, this should not be surprising to you at all.

This was an inaugural 5K race, in Saint James, MO.  Meramec Vineyards partnered up with the Engineers Without Borders Chapter of Missouri University of Science and Technology for  and their project to bring water to communities in Guatemala, Honduras and Bolivia.

My friend Lora, who I ran the Glow Run with, drove the 3 hours to run with me in my home town this time.  Her husband Darrin came to run as well, his first race ever!  We had plenty of time for photos.


Dallas ran too!

We had tons of time before the race started, I got there early since I didn't know how many people were registered, and we sat for quite a while.  Luckily we sat inside the winery where it was cool.

The race was to start at 6:30PM at the Winery in town and ran out a hilly country road to the Vineyard. It was hot and humid, but luckily the clouds rolling in right around race time.  There ended up being 50 people registered and 49 finishers.  My friend Lori was also there!  This was also her first race back, she used to run in college. 

I was the ONLY person in a tutu, in fact, I was the only person dressed up at all, except a guy in a sombrero with his dog.   



I was fully expecting the costume award, you'll have to keep reading to see if I won it!


 We lined up and headed out right at 6:30pm.  Dallas and I took off pretty fast.  It really does not matter how much self-talking we do about it, we always bolt out of the start.  He told me later that we were running around an 8 minute pace at first (we normally run at 10-10:30)  I had a little mishap not too far out of the start.  I got the Nike app going but it said there was a weak signal, so it started late.  Then I went to put my phone in my spibelt and missed the pocket, dropping it on the ground!  I nearly collided with someone trying to pick it up.   I caught up with Dallas and had a few issues adjusting my tutu, but then I settled into it.  We slowed down a bit but I knew I was running faster than normal, I tried to push but not so much that I couldn't keep going.  I KNEW what was to come...

This was a hilly race!  I knew it was hilly, I ran part of it on a training run to see how it was, so I was pretty prepared.  It was gorgeous though, even with the hills.  Here's a shot I took on my training run. 


I ran that whole bad boy!  At some point I pulled ahead of Dallas, I think on one of the hills.  I felt strong and I slowed up a bit going up the hills, but down I would try to speed up to make up for it.  It was a gorgeous route, this was also taken on my training run (I did not take a single picture during the race, no time when I was chasing a PR!) 

 There was a water station at 2 miles and they gave us full ice cold bottles of water!  Fantastic.  I ran through the water station because it was on a downhill, opened my bottle, slowed down to a walk to take a drink and douse myself and then ran on.  I felt bad throwing a whole bottle of water on the ground, but I wasn't going to hold it for another mile.  

We turned off the main road onto the side road to the vineyard and it was nearly all uphill.  I kept running, I knew I was close now and I did start to get a little nauseous, but pushed it back and told myself I was nearly there.  We turned onto a gravel road and headed uphill.  This hill was the worst for me, I walked for about 30 seconds and then pushed through it.  We then turned left onto a "road" in the vineyard.  Basically it was gravel in a field and with a bit of grass occasionally.  It was hairy!  When you see the finish below, you can see what we had to run on.  BUT, as I turned onto it, I saw a beautiful sight!  The finish!  I gave everything I had left and started to sprint to the finish, which was farther than it looked.  I had to keep watching my feet b/c I was terrified I would roll an ankle on the gravel/rocks.  Crossed the finish and had no clue what my time was. LOL.  I was using the Nike app, which had started late, I fumbled around trying to get my phone out of my pocket and stop it but it was off b/c it had not been able to get a signal.  Then all I could think of was water.  

Rey, Dylan, Savannah, and Aurora (my friend Lora's daughter) were at the finish and Rey said "didn't you get a water down there?" pointing back to where I had turned onto the hairy finish.  They were handing out water back there, but WHO takes a water in the last .10/.20 of a race??  They told me I could walk up to where the tents/music was but when I looked around the corner, it was a long walk, you couldn't even see where it was.  It ended up being probably almost another .25 mile to get to that area!  So, I was annoyed, but I wasn't willing to leave the finish when I knew Dallas would be coming as well as Lora and her husband.  Sure enough, Dallas finally headed into the finish.  Look all the way back, that's where the water was.  You can't really tell, but there was a lady in a pink shirt walking back to get water.  A few people did that...I just stood there griping.  LOL.
 Dallas finished strong but was not happy.  He had nearly thrown up a couple times and the hills were hard on him.  He didn't PR and I think that frustrated him more than anything.  
A few minutes later Lora and Darrin finished!  I loved that they got to hold hands and cross the finish. <3 


 We finally got to head for water (although by the time I got there I was ready for beer! Maybe they did that on purpose!) ;) I went over to ask the timing people what my official time was first, I just had to know and didn't want to wait until I got home.  When they told me, I thought it had to be a mistake!  I actually checked the Garmin Dallas used to make sure they had measured the race properly.  I knew I would PR from my last official 5K but with the hills, I didn't think I would PR my best 5K time even in training!  I smashed my PB with a 31:01 time!  I was over the moon.


It was a lovely walk through the vineyard, even if I was dripping with sweat and dying of thirst.


They had a 2-man-band set up in a field next to the vineyard and a couple tents with food, beer, and wine. 
 

 I opted for a beer and it hit the spot!  I was dripping with sweat but I PR'd!  Totally worth it! 


 We spent some time there listening to music and having a couple beers, waiting for the awards ceremony.  The last couple races, I left early and Dallas had placed, so he wanted to stay this time.  He placed again this time as well!  First in his age division.  


 Darrin, Lora's husband, placed 3rd in his division!  I actually thought I might have placed, but I didn't.   I came in 6th in my age division and 16th overall out of 49 finishers and I'm really proud of that, better than I expected.

I was waiting for my costume award, and naturally they left it for last.  Turns out they couldn't decide between me and sombrero-man, so they gave us both an award!  A bottle of wine!  Now, I'm not being a brat, I swear, but I thought I would get a medal.  This race didn't have medals for finishing, just placing, so I was slightly disappointed with the wine.  I tried to hint to the lady that I would rather have a medal, but she didn't get it and I didn't want to be rude.  I was wearing a shirt that said I RUN for WINE after all. LOL.  Here we are with our medals/wine awards!


 Lora got a cute picture of me & Rey.  He even smiled! 


 After the awards, we were ready to head out.  We all went back to the house for lasagna.  Overall, it was a fabulous race.  I think there were a couple things they could have done differently, but it was an inaugural race and I was pleased with almost everything.  I have a shiny new PR and feel fantastic that I was able to do that in 85 degree weather on brutal hills!  

Thanks for reading, I know it was long!

I had to come back and add a picture of Sombrero-man that Lora sent me this morning!  I went up to him before the race and said that he looked like my only competition...his response was..."Are you in my age group?!?!?"  LOL. 







27 comments:

  1. Congrats on a great race and PR! I know what you mean about the medals. I've won my age group twice in smaller races and got a water bottle and a ribbon when I really really wanted a medal...

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    1. Thanks April! I felt like I was being greedy, but Rey reminded me that the flyer said "awards" for age division/costume...not medals. I guess I just like my bling! ;)

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  2. Hahahahahaha I love the sombrero man's comment. That's awesome!

    WOOHOOOOOO! What an awesome PR! YOU GO GIRL! It's all the training you've done, train with hills and you can do anything in a race! Congratulations on that and winning the bottle of wine with your costume. This race looked so cool! (I wish they did this in CT there's like 36 vineyards, you'd think one would want to.) That's awesome that Dallas placed and that you had Rey there to watch you <3. You always take such great pictures, makes me feel like I was there hahaha.

    I'm so happy you had such an awesome time!

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    1. Thanks Meg! It's funny, I did all this complaining that I lived in such a rural area that there were no races, but it turns out that there are quite a few small races that have been really unique and fun! I just found another for August...a Superhero run!

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  3. The label looks like it's the wine that sometimes come in the small bottles? If so at least it's TASTY wine. ;)

    Congrats on the PR, truly impressive with the oppressive heat. As always, you rock. :)

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    1. I got to choose the wine! The girl that had the Dr. WHO shirt on helped me! I told her that I remembered her and that after taking her picture with you, I posted it all over the internet! LOL

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  4. Karen!! Congrats on your PR that is incredibly, and on such a hilly course!! So awesome you got a bottle of wine for a prize (way better than a trophy IMHO hehe)! Also congrats to Dallas for getting 1st in his age division :)

    I have never run a race that small, how was it? I bet it's nice without all the congestion!

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    1. Thanks Lauren! Small races are nice b/c you have a better chance (LOL) and less crowding. I like the energy at big races though, the biggest one I did in KS with 10,000 people was just BUZZING with energy! They both have pros and cons, I think!

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  5. Congratulations on your PR! That's awesome!

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  6. Congrats on your PR! Congrats to Dallas too for winning his age division. I second the comment that your pictures are so great it makes one feel as though we are there with you. I can't wait to run a night time race ( or at least evening anyway). the only one around here that I've found was at night was a trail run. It didn't start till dark and they gave you glow necklaces. It was the same trail I did the 10K on. It was tricky even during the day, there was no way I wanted to run it in the dark!

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    1. Thanks so much! Dallas didn't like doing an evening race and I have to admit, I'm more of a morning person and cannot stand to WAIT! LOL

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    2. Just don't hyperventilate like I did when you see the corrals. . . . :-)

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    3. I'm going to try not to Sharon! LOL! When I did the Glow Run and there were 10,000, I kept telling Lora that it would be DOUBLE that many and then more at the Princess!!

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  7. How FUN!! The one we did this weekend was nearly a rain-out (horrible storms up until the race and then it finally quit, so I know that affected the turn out). . . only 99 people and that was VERY small to me. And I am so happy you have a pic of Sombrero man, I was getting ready to make a comment until you put it in there. . .that's a keeper!!!
    Congrats to both you and Dallas :-)

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    1. Thanks Sharon! Yep, lots of small races around my area...I'm going to be blown away at Disney!

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  8. Looked like a fun race. I had wanted to do that one but ended up working that night. Congrats on your son getting first in his age division and on your PR!!!!!!
    Never realized until reading back thru your blog posts you live in my hometown!

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    1. WOW!!! I have NEVER met anyone on the internet that even knew where St. James was, much less lived here! Hi neighbor!!

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    2. I had never met anyone who knew where it was either. They would know where St. Louis was or Kansas City but nothing in between! Hope St. James and Rolla has a few more 5ks this year love doing them closer to home.

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    3. The next one we're doing is the Superhero 5K on August 24th in Rolla! Looks like fun and all the proceeds are going to the American Cancer Society. It starts at Lions Club. There are a few more this year too, you can find a list of them on Splitsecondtiming's website! Do you have a blog Shelley??

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    4. I just saw that one posted and I am off work that day so I will do it. I am doing a 5k in Bland August 3 with some friends we will be walking it since none of them run and I am not back to running yet. I do have a blog the address is: http://shell-r-allen.blogspot.com/

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  9. Congrats on your PR! Such a great time and with hills, too! So great that Rey could be there for the race. :) Love the costume- I definitely run for wine! :)

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    1. Thanks Kim! I was REALLY surprised by my time. I knew I was pushing myself hard to PR but I thought the hills and heat would really cut into my time.

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  10. Great recap lady! Sounds like it was a fun race and CONGRATS on the PR! That is awesome!

    Your outfits are always too cute, I especially love your pigtails!!!

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    1. Thanks Lena! I've realized that I really do love to dress up for races. Obviously I don't want it to hinder my running, but it really is fun and I never want to be so obsessed with my time that I can't have fun with it. And when else can a 40 year old dress up in a tutu?!?

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  11. Great recap. not sure how you can run in a tutu and not have it drive you nuts. the few times i've done it i have wound up feeling itchy.

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    1. This certain brand tutu (Legs Avenue) has a REALLY THICK band and it's short, so both of those things make it pretty easy to run in! I have tried other tutus and they don't work at all, but this kind stays put on my hips and works!

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