If you're new here, start with The Plan then come back to this post 🏃♀️
When I was looking for races in March, this was the first race I found and I loved the name- Taco Trot! When I started reading about the charity associated with the Taco Trot, Live Run Give, LLC. Live, Run, Give hosts food-themed runs while also giving back to Breast Cancer charities. For this race, they teamed up with Young Survivor Coalition.
For my outfit, which was mostly hidden because of the weather, was pretty simple; fun taco socks and a fun taco shirt. My old favorite yoga pants and sneakers rounded out my look with my NorthFace knit Jacket.
Week of Race
I made it a point this week to do lots of stretching and walking. It worked out well for me last Race so i figure why not mess with something that works.
I got my outfit together; it's a look, I'll say that. Ha! I also finalized my playlist this week making sure I absolutely love the songs I have on there and in the right order. That middle song is super important for my pacing.
Night before Race
Keith I participated in a beer crawl in Hammonton with some of his coworkers. We had a great afternoon walking around downtown Hammonton. I took that as a great way to prepare for a 5K. I can't say I ate/drank the best but I enjoyed myself. We were in bed relatively early, which was good because we had to be out of the house by 7:30 AM.
Morning of Race
I woke a bit startled in the morning briefly forgetting what I was doing up so early on a Sunday. Ha
We got ready and I took a look at the weather and it said a really obscene word- the weather was in the 20s?!!! Crap, this is going to be a cold race.
We made our way to Wall Municipal Complex on all these country roads and saw horses and cows and pretty open fields.
We made great time and met my parents at the field. We hopped out and made our way to registration to pick up my number and long sleeve tee.
I was still a little dazed and when we got back to the truck to wait, I realized that there were no safety pins to pin the number on my clothes.
Daddy to the rescue with safety pins from his medical kit. Yay!
About 15 minutes before the race started, we got out of the truck and made our way to the start line. We took pre-race photos and then I gave my cheer squad hugs and kisses and they saw me off to the middle of the pack, while they waited on the sideline.
This is go time Spano....
Right before Race
It was SO cold waiting. I couldn't hear what they were saying and I was trying to keep warm. Which everyone around me trying to do the same. I found Mom, Dad and Keith on the sidelines that gave me a quick boost of goodness.
All of the sudden, out of no where, we started to move. We all had to squeeze on the path to pass over the timing chip.
And we were off....
During the Race
Once we started, I clicked my Samsung health app on (in my daze of the morning, I forgot my fitbit on the bathroom sink.) And then turned my music on and started bopping along while I was running.
I had no idea where we were going. I just followed everyone else. The map on the race website was confusing and I've never been to this park so everything was new.
I noticed there were arrows on the ground directing us and there were Race officials all around directing us; this made me happy because I was really nervous getting lost.
We got a tour of the Wall Municipal Complex and while it was very nice it was all open making it So Very COLD. It was a really wacky course. Hills, windy and twisty.
I remember telling myself " you're in it now" " embrace the suck" " You got this gab!" " let it goooooooo (a la frozen)
Just before the last loop, I got to pass by my cheer squad and that was such a nice surprise and it gave me a boost of goodness and to get going. I loved seeing them especially since I didn't expect it! Mom caught an action photo of me. You can see the shadows of the Cheer team too! You can see the happiness on my face.
To make it a 5k, we had to go another loop that was an out and back with a funny taco sign directing us.
After the loop, I got to pass by my cheer team AGAIN and I knew then, it was almost over. They were so excited to see me! I told myself, just a bit more! Mom caught two more action photos.
After the Race
So excited to be done. I had no idea what my time was and I didn't care. I embraced the suck and got it done. I got my medal and a bottle of water but skipped the tacos. I was that cold. HAHA!
They should have handed out those metallicky looking blankets to help us warm up.
Results
Chip time: 35:59.6
I was 26 out of 53 for my age group. Again, right in the middle.
I was 154 out of 286 overall. I was just below the middle of the pack.
My goal was to do better than my previous Race and I DID IT! I was SEVEN seconds faster than my last race, Cupid's Chase. Even in the cold and wind, I was faster! WAHOOO!
Music
This month, I took the same approach as I did last month with my music. I first figured out a realistic time for me to finish the race in (35 minutes) and I built my playlist with songs that would propel me forward and help me keep a consistent, comfortable pace.
While I could have reused the same play list from last month, I decided to make a new one. I ended up with 12 songs that will run for about 36 minutes. Which is perfect. You can listen to my Taco Trot playlist here.
-----
Well, that's #3 of the 12 5K's I'm running this year. YAY!
Next month, it's the Bunny Hop in honor of Easter!
Did you miss last month's 5K? Check out February and the other races I've run previously:
January 2023 | December 2022 | August 2022 | August 2017
--------
[[The more you run, the more tacos that will be at the finish line ]]
No comments:
Post a Comment