Freaky 5k - Race Report



Its that time of year again...late fall.  I enjoy this time of year, the fall colors, the cool crisp temperatures, football, and generally our crazy hectic life slows down a bit.  It also means I get a break from my usual high volume, high intensity training.  It also means that its time for my two traditional races, The Freaky 5k and the Turkey Trot.  Each October, I try to participate in the YMCA of the Fox Cities' Freaky 5k.  Other than missing a few due to other obligations, I have pretty much done this race every year since I started really running competitively.  This year was my 7th year.  It was also the first year that Maya is registered to do her first ever 5k by herself!

Training for This Race

As usual and with most of the races this past year, I hadn't done any specific training leading up to this race.

Prerace

The weather leading up to race day had been actually quite warm, but that ended abruptly a few days before the race.  The weather for the race was chilly and wet, but the rain showers actually ended just before the sun came up.  We all got up and got the kids ready and loaded up the car and left only a few minutes after our predetermined time, which is actually really good for us.  Once there, I was able to get in a small warm up before the Mini-Monster Dash started at 8:00am, which is a kids run that takes place before the 5k.  Both Delaney and Harper did the race and each got their own medal which they loved.  I was then able to get in a better more thorough warm up just before the race started at 8:30.

Nutrition Plan

An hour before the race, I took my usual Anti-Fatigue Caps, Endurance Aminos, and then took my Fully Charged about 10 minutes before the start of the race.

Miles 0-3.1

As soon as the race started I knew I had a chance to win the race outright.   But did my best to just stick to my usual race strategy of maintaining a solid pace and allowing the "sprinters" to fade and at that point I try to figure what type of pace I'm going to have to hold.  The Freaky 5k is a challenging course as it starts with a downhill path down to the river and about a quarter to half mile section by the river before having to run back uphill.  This year, however, they changed the course slightly and forced you to run those hills twice.  So, knowing this, I tried to conserve my pace in the event I needed a bit of energy at the end.  After the first 800 meters or so, most of the "sprinters" had faded and I was just behind another guy, roughly my age.  I passed him just before having to go back up the initial part of the hills.  Although, I quickly passed him after getting back into the neighborhood section of the race.  I was able to hold him off and maintain a pretty even pace throughout the race.  I finished the race in 17:51, which I was happy with, considering the hills and my lack of training.  I took 1st overall, which is always a nice bonus.

Post Race

After I finished, I hung around the finish line to cheer on the initial wave of runners, but I had other obligations that I not only had to do, I was excited to do.  As I mentioned earlier, Maya was running her first ever full 5k by herself.  She was nervous, so she was walk/running the initial part with my mom who was pushing our other two kids in the stroller, while Sarah and my dad ran the race.  So, I started running the course backwards until I found Maya and my mom.  I ran back about a mile or so and found her.  We then got to run the final mile of the race together, which was awesome!   Maya was excited and had a good time finishing the race by herself.  She finished the race in 43:31, which is very good considering she walked about 2/3's of the race.  After all family members finished the race, we hung around for the awards ceremony and the costume contests, which is always entertaining.

What's on Tap

Up next is the Festival Food Turkey Trot, which is a 5 mile, highly competitive race on Thanksgiving morning.  I will probably just continue to run low mileage with a few longer days sprinkled in just to stay in some sort of running shape, but not really train.  Honestly, I am already looking to next year, as I usually do this time of year.  The way I have been going the past 4-5 years, is I usually have a big race season followed by a low volume, easy race season.  This year would qualify as a low volume easy race season.  So, we'll just have to wait and see what's in store for 2018!

Halloween Havoc

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays.  Not exactly sure why, but it just has.  It might be the whole concept of getting dressed up in whatever you want and getting together with friends and family and having a good time.  Now, as my life changes I have grown to like Halloween even more.  Over the past month Sarah has been going to as many Halloween festivities as she can fit into her tight schedule.  This year we participated in the Teal Pumpkin Project and painted a pumpkin teal and placed it out in front of the house for Trick-or-Treaters to see.  THE TEAL PUMPKIN PROJECT website. The Teal Pumpkin Project is there to raise awareness of children who suffer from food allergies.  Simply put, if you participate, just paint a pumpkin teal and have non-food treats to offer kids as necessary.  This was the first year of the Teal Pumpkin Project and was definitely in the infancy stages, but I felt as though it raised a lot of awareness in our neighborhood alone.  The week before Halloween we took a family trip with all of our college roommates to The Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells to use their indoor waterpark.  We didn't plan that weekend until about a month before, so it still amazes me that we were able to get all 4 families to the Dells for a weekend full of Halloween fun and swimming.  The day after Halloween, Sarah and I had the opportunity to send all three of our kids to her parents house for the entire day AND night!  We took full advantage of this for a full day of activities.  But, now with Halloween behind us, sadly, it's time to start planning for Christmas.

Do they come any cuter?

Zoo-Boo, N.E.W. Zoo, Green Bay, WI

Pumpkin Patch Fest, Door County, WI

The Great Wolf Lodge, Wisconsin Dells, WI

8 Adults....8 Kids, all in one large condo

Halloween

Date Night

My first ever Moscow Mule....Love It!!

Carving Pumpkins

Carving pumpkins is one of my favorite, once-a-year holiday traditions.  Actually, it might be my favorite.  No, by no means am I great at it, but I always try to something on my own, without a stencil.  This year, I did an owl for Sarah and a Sugar Skull for myself.  We let the girls pick out what they got on their pumpkins and Maya picked out a Hello Kitty and Delaney chose a kitty-cat.  We started carving them mid morning on Wednesday.  I decided that we would keep the pumpkin seeds this year and roast them to for a new healthy snack for the girls and I.  The recipe, if you call it that, was super simple and the seeds turned out great.  We washed all the seeds in the sink and then boiled them in salt water for 10 minutes and then roasted them at 400* until the seeds are golden brown.    We made 5 total pumpkins this year, one for each of us, plus one for "baby Kohl."  It is kind of ironic/fitting that the M-dot was on baby Kohl's pumpkin, since they were both bartered for this past year.  Below are the pumpkins - and you were foolish if you seriously thought I wasn't going to make an M-dot pumpkin.

A family of carved pumpkins

Maya's Hello Kitty

Baby Kohl's M-dot

Delaney's Kitty-Cat

Sarah's Owl

My Sugar Skull