The Autumn Woods Classic 5K Trail Run Race Report!

Today was my first run since my marathon. The only thing that I have done this week is yard work and one two mile walk. This morning Kay and I headed out to the Elm Creek Park Reserve in Maple Grove for the annual 5K, 10K and kids 1K races.

Kay's cross country team volunteered for today's races and she ended up working at the t-shirt distribution table:)

The Autumn Woods Classic 5K attracted 759 runners/walkers. Here is a picture of the people behind me just a few minutes before the start.

Here is the view of the runners in front of me. The 5K race starts out on a paved trail and then later turns onto a dirt and grass road. There is also a pretty big section of rolling grass hills before changing back to the paved trail. It is a tough course with many rolling hills. My time last year was 24:04. I knew there would be no PRing today and I just wanted to finish under 25 minutes. When we heard the horn....we were off! Oh my goodness, I started out way to fast! I got caught up in the excitement of the start and buzzed along with the front runners. Mistake! Mile one 7:10! My legs felt okay but my energy level was not up to snuff.

This portion of the race was a little before mile one. See Mike, my pictures can turn out blurry too:)

This is the portion of the run that was on the dirt and grass road. I was not feeling so great here. I was starting to get thirsty and really wanted to start walking! What the heck....walking before mile two and the water stop!?! Do you see that little boy in front of me? Yep, he was a great runner and super cute! This little super stud runner and I were neck and neck for about 400 meters. After the end of this road we turned to the left onto the grass portion of the course. This is where the water stop was and I needed water ASAP! I was feeling a little light headed and was so thirsty. I got in line for the water and had my eye on the cup. This little speed rocket charged in front of me and I ended up slowing down so I wouldn't run into him. I ended up biting the big one in the wet grass! I slid a few feet and thought....you have freaking got to be kidding! Thank God there was hardly anyone other than the two guys behind me and the water stop people that witnessed this:) I quickly got up grabbed another cup of water and went on my merry way! This was a tough run and I did not feel the greatest. The marathon must have taken so much out of me because this easy little 5K seemed so challenging to me. The last mile I was out of gas and running on empty. Just keep moving...keep your feet moving and you will eventually get to the finish line. The last portion of the race is up hill and not fun. Last year I charged up that hill...this year...not so much:) I will say that not one single woman passed me during the whole race. There were 6 guys that passed me including little super stud:) All of the speedy girls charged out before me in the beginning of the race.

This is what the entire park looked like. The trees were gorgeous and I enjoyed looking at all of the beautiful fall scenery.

After my race was over I found out that I actually took 2nd place for my age group! My time is about 40 seconds slower than last year. Here are my stats....

Final time 24:45.

I placed 72 out of 759.

My little man ran in the kids 1K race and was so excited to get his race bib! They seperated the age groups for the kids and he ran with the four year olds. They were expecting 400 kids to be running so I am very happy that they broke it down into age groups. I would say that there were maybe 40 to 50 four year olds running:)

Here he is right after the start:) He was in 3rd place for so much of the race! We think he might have taken fourth. It is hard to say because he ended up passing a few in the five year old age group and there were parents running with their kids. He had a blast and it was so much fun for us to watch him charging along!

Look at my little runner in his swim trunks:) He wanted to have shorts with the mesh inside like my running shorts do. He grabbed his swimming trunks and said they were now his running shorts:) After the race all of the kids got finish ribbons and a pumpkin! Score! What else does a kid need? Nothing:)

Last Saturday we met my college boy for a football game at the University of Minnesota! My college boy and I are both Gophers:) It had been some time since we had seen him. We texted him and met him in the concession area. My hubby purchased food for him and it was like Christmas morning:) The joy of free food for the college student! Oh, the little things in life!

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

I want to let everyone know how sorry I am for my lack of commenting this week. I have been feeling a little bit of the post marathon blues. Hopefully I will be back to my cheerful self soon:)