Enfield Penguin Run.

I realize I didn't really do a full recap of the Bluenose 10k. Let's be honest. I probably won't get around to it. So here's a recap of Race #2!

I got up at 7:15am (on a Saturday??! These races are turning me into a crazy person!) and got dressed in the clothes I laid out the night before. I wasn't really that hungry, but I realized I should eat something, so I had half a banana with some peanut butter, 3 cherry tomatoes, and a small glass of cranberry juice. Then Donnie and I hopped in the car and drove to Enfield, which took about 35 minutes.

This is not a peace sign. This is two fingers for race #2!

Once we arrived, I picked up my race kit (t shirt, energy bar, lots of flyers!), got myself organized (minus misplacing my water bottle.. we'll chalk it up to the early hour.. ha!), strapped on my chip, and pinned on my number.

I daresay that looks a bit like a cankle. SHUDDER.

I had forgotten my cell phone at home (my brain clearly wasn't working right this morning), so I was wondering how I was going to locate my buddy Josh and my mom. Luckily, Josh walked by when I was hanging out in my car, and I hollered across the road to him.

We chatted for a bit and headed to the race area, where I almost walked into my mom, who kindly took some photos for me :)

Ready to go!

He looks like he doesn't want to touch me. I promise I wasn't even sweaty yet!

Racing buddies!

We watched the kiddies run the 1.5km. I could not get over how tiny some of these kids were.. there were some teeny tiny little 4 and 5 year olds, and a 2 or 3 year old who might have "run" the race from inside his stroller. They all got participant medals!

Then it was our turn. The 5k and the 10 mile racers lined up together, so there were about 240 of us. It felt much different than the 2600 at the Bluenose!! It was good though, because this time it only took me 15 seconds to cross the start line.

I lost Josh fairly early on, which I expected, and we each did our own thing. I hit the 1km mark after 5 minutes flat, and I thought "Whoa! I better slow down!" The next two kms were around 5:15 and 5:20 respectively. There was a family running the water station at the turn around point, and I grabbed a gulp of water, and once again realized that I can't drink and run at the same time. Fail.

It felt like the 4km marker took FOREVER to find me, and once it did I felt everything get better. It was hot, I was sweaty, but I only had one more kilometer to go! Actually, I'm not going to lie, at this point a woman and what may have been her mother passed me. I did a huge double take, and thought, "No WAY is Grandma going to beat me!!!" I cranked the music and gassed it past them. The last bit of the way there was a bit of a hill, which sucked, a lot. Once I got past that and saw the finish line flags, I absolutely poured it on and sprinted through the finish line. It was such an amazing feeling to finish so strong!! Loved it!!

Even though this guy kicked my butt.

Race Stats
Distance: 5 km
Overall Time: 26:57
Chip Time: 26:45
Pace per km: 5:21
Overall ranking: 84/167

I was happy with this time because I have run exactly once since the Bluenose, and anything under 30 mins was great with me!!

Love this lady :)