Peak's Island 5 Miler

Oh my gosh, a race report! I haven't written one of these since last October! I bet it will all come back to me, just like my race morning routine did.

I had my oatmeal and peanut butter, drank a bunch of water, foam rolled, and of course took a selfie in my race outfit. Spandits for the win!

I've done this race for the past 8 years because it is such a fun summer day. I mean any race that involves a ferry ride wins in my book! We took the 9:15 ferry this year, instead of the 8:30, because I knew I'd want to sleep in after working 12 hour shifts the two days before. It was crowded, but we got on, and still had plenty of time once we got to the island. 

The race was a lot bigger than it has been in past years- more than 700 runners. This presented a problem for this pregnant lady. The lines for the bathroom were crazy- so I only got to go once, which was not enough! I had to go before the race even started and it only got worse as the race went on. I was so uncomfortable that I kept looking for places to pull over into the woods- but never found a good one!

This year I convinced my friend Gillian and her husband Al and my friend Brad and his girlfriend Dana to do the race. I love getting more of my friends involved in my running life!

Although I've done this race many times before, I knew this year would be different with a baby on board. Plus my feet were super tired from working the days before and it was hot. So it was not the year to set a PR. I was just there for fun!

But of course, once the race started my competitive side kicked in. Especially since Gillian was just in front of me the whole race! But I kept reminding myself that the health of my baby is way more important than my time! So I did hold myself back, ran through all the hoses to cool off, and walked some sections of the biggest hills. 

I ended up finishing in 45:35, which is a good 7 miles slower than my fastest time. But, I'm totally okay with that! Since I've been running 10 min/miles in training, 9 min/miles felt like flying!

My race number totally hides my baby bump

I wasn't able to enjoy the free Sebago beer after the race (my friends were more than happy to drink mine for me), but I thoroughly enjoyed the basket of sweet potato fries and onion rings we all shared at lunch lately. In fact they might have been the highlight of my day!

Is there a race that you do year after year? Why do you keep returning?