Sunday, May 12, 2013

Mother's Day 5K

24:36 (Another Personal Favorite to add to the collection)
4th AG out of 100
31st female of 724
69th finisher of 1006

3 words to describe this race:

Holy fuc$&*%# Hills

Kim and I signed up for this race a few weeks ago because we wanted to punish ourselves run a 5k together and have fun.

I woke up super early, and even convinced L to join me as we drove 45 minutes into the unknown Barrington, IL which is full of super posh houses and hills (which no one told us about)

Smiling because we were completely oblivious to the course profile and because we were cold.

We did a march of death warmup mile and the realization began to set in that this course would be nothing but (up)hills.

We positioned ourselves behind all the pre teens and badass runners and soon we were off, huffing and puffing up one steep hill after another. OMG


If you're wondering by now if we coordinated our outfits the answer is NO. It was just one hell of a coincidence we showed up wearing Exactly the SAME thing.**


So yada yada yada, blah blah blah hills cold and freaking headwinds, one foot in front of the other and all that jazz.(and not enough downhills.)


I even channeled my inner Emmers for some spastic photo pose inspiration.


So happy to be done with that course! But sad that running with Kim was done for the day :(


We got "finisher" roses for completing this beast of a 5k. I will display my rose proudly as a reminder of how this course kicked our asses.(and how I need to practice hills more)

And a HUGE thanks to L for being our official course photographer today. I LOVE you for supporting me with this hobby!

Today was a day to enjoy running and being healthy (and moms too, duh) but also to enjoy family and good friends. Every race need not be a PR attempt- the minute this hobby stops being fun for me is the day I pick up something else to do.

After a nice long brunch with Kim, L and I went to hell IKEA to buy some stuff and also went to Dicks Sporting goods where I got the coolest Capri pants ever. YAY NIKE THANK YOU FOR READING MY MIND ABOUT CRAZY PRINT BOTTOMS!!!

*I got $10 off this entry because of the Chi-Town 10K snafu back in March from All Community Events.
- The race was extremely well organized.
- It incorporated ALL the hills in Barrington, and somehow avoided decent downhills.
-We wore super cool singlets by Hind. ($10 at TJ Maxx i think...)
-Saucony A5 Racing flats.
-Stupid too long of a wait at Wildberry Cafe.. I really wanted to go there for brunch!
-Thank you volunteers!

**And yes, we did coordinate our singlets, shorts, and arm warmers on purpose. :)




- xaar

16 comments:

  1. These pictures are the BEST! Love them. You guys look like you had a blast despite the hills and totally rocked the race.

    On a hunt for those capris. Those are amazing. I'm been looking for tye dye tights for about a year, the closest I had come was the dip dye ones Nike made! So sorry in advance for copying! :)

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  2. Awesome pictures, looks like you guys had a great time. I love those singlets and the capris are amazingly fun. I want!

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  3. I've been to the Wildberry Cafe in Libertyville (it's near-ish to the navy base). So delicious! But the one time we ate there, we made sure to get there a little bit later.

    I love that you coordinated. I need to do that more. I mean, other than wearing my running club tank. Actually, that's one of the reasons I'm looking forward to Ragnar.

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  4. Love the photos and love the tights! :)

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  5. Ha ha ha ha. I love how sarcastic this is. My race report is pretty sarcastic and I hope people get it? That I am being sarcastic and not mopey about the hills? Like! What are you going to do? We still totes had a blast, obvi.

    LOL. "It was just one hell of a coincidence we showed up wearing Exactly the SAME thing." I love the tanks you picked out.

    I had a lot of fun running through hell like you. You know what they say... if you are going through hell... keep going. Ha ha! And we did. Damn. I know I would not have finished with that time if I was there alone, and I am DAMN proud of that time. That was freaking HARD.

    Sigh. I love those capris. Too bad we didn't both have those on the bottom today. Did you notice the lady who had on the crazy tights I have from Kohl's? I was going to point it out to you, but I was too out of breath :)

    Thanks so much for coming all the way out to the burbs! I know it was a pita for you (and L!!!). When should I come run in your hood? :)

    I love the collages you made and your xaarlin.com stamp! :)

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    1. Sigh... "running through hell WITH you." not like. that no make sense.

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  6. You made Barrington hills look fun! Kudos to you! I want to join you for one of these! That's what it's all about!

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  7. I hate courses with killer hills. Those races are never fun.

    Those Nike capris are freaking awesome. Love the bright colors, they are so fun!

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  8. fantastic photos!! course looked like hell....

    and yes I looooove those pants too.

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  9. I believed you when you said you didn't coordinate! Courses like that can feel so defeating. I ran one recently and wow, did I feel out of shape!

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  10. Well, if you have to run a hella tough hilly 5k course, at least you got to do it with a friend and had an amazing photog taking kick ass pictures the whole way!

    You 2 looked ridiculously cute! And I need those nike capris...

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  11. Sounds like you guys had a blast. Great matching outfits! The hills somehow intrigue me, since I am such a flatland runner! I run one 5k a year in Wisconsin that is almost all downhill for the first mile and all uphill for the last mile. I like the race for the challenge, but it is definitely not a PR type race. However, I'm glad it's only a 5k, because those hills could get grueling if the race was much longer than that.

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  12. Haha, love this race recap! If you end up going through a miserable course, it is awesome you had someone there to share in your misery! And you guys look adorable in your matching tops! Love love love it!

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  13. I had no idea anywhere around here was even a little hilly! That's rough, and I may have just walked the entire thing if it had been me :)

    Love your new capris! I can't seem to break away from black bottoms, but those are so much more fun!

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  14. Woohoo! Congrats on such a hilly course! I absolutely love that the two of you coordinated, too! :) And those new capris are the BOMB!

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