Race for the Cure Recap

Thanks to my sister, for making this! :)

Saturday was the Race for the Cure in Little Rock. I have regularly participated in this event, but this year was very special to me. I lost my mom to breast cancer in August of this year, so I was bound and determined to give it my all. I signed up for the competitive, chip-timed race, which is something I haven't done before.  My (cold) Saturday started at 5 am - I'm a morning person, thankfully! Breakfast was my usual of oats and coffee, yum. I let the kid sleep while I was got ready.  I had picked up a shirt the night before, but I didn't try it on until Saturday morning. It wasn't supposed to get out of the 40s during the race, so I knew I had to improvise. So, I went with my pink and white tank, and layered my race shirt over it. It is what it is, right?

I got to the event around 6:30, and it was already packed. I couldn't believe it! My race started earlier than the others, so I assumed that I would be ahead of the crowd.I was freezing my little sparkly tail off, but I knew I'd warm up when the race started.

First stop.... you guessed it! Don't let this fool you, the line before the event was long, but my fingers were too numb to get my camera out. :)

 There were a few familiar faces, but I was so nervous I didn't pay attention to much! There were some serious runners, but I just knew I should do my best. And no, I don't consider myself a serious runner. I'm a quasi-runner. :) I wasn't worried too much about wearing cotton, since I had the wicking shirt underneath and it was only 3 miles. I didn't think I would get hot during that distance and it was already so cold outside.

After all of the opening prayers, etc, the event started. I was off! I started to surprise myself, because I was passing other women. I didn't think I was that fast, though. I was just running. At the 1-mile mark, my Nike+ app gave me my pace, 8:45. What!? I was totally shocked. That's about a minute faster than my normal "good" pace. And then, I started to get hot. I thought about just running through it because I had my phone in my arm band, strapped on over my long sleeved shirt. Well, crud. I saw another girl stop and take off her top layer. Finally, I stopped. I didn't want to lose my race shirt, so I just tied it on my waist. And I was off again. 

It was SO awesome to see all of the men, women, and kids out there cheering everyone on. It is so impressive to see a community come together like that. I was beside myself. No one knew I was running for my mom, or my family's story, but I saw so many people with "i'm running for..." or "running in memory of...". No one knew me and my story, but they all know the pain. That's something that me and the 40,000 or so other people there all shared in common.

During the race, I had to stop and walk a few times. The cold weather was getting to me, because of my asthma. My lung were hurting! I knew this would set me back some on my time, but I knew I needed to take care of myself. How embarrassing would it be to pass out at the race!?

My official time was 31:29 and average pace of 10:09, but my Nike+ app had me at 9:55. Considering all of my stopping and/or walking, I'm pretty darn happy with that. I was hoping to finish in 31:00. So, I'm pretty content.

All of the festivities at the event were fun. Yoplait was there giving out yogurts and had a fun little photo booth. Ford was giving out bags, and had fun cars. I always love walking around the races and seeing the companies that have come to support it.Spit for the Cure was there, so I participated in that. Mom did it years ago, and I finally got my chance, too. Here are a few photos I got after the race. 

The Little Rock firefighters put on a bit of a dance show! There was also a pink firetruck, but I was too busy running to get a picture.

Some of the tents set up.

Mmm, yogurt.

I got these fun little eye blacks from the New Balance booth. I picked up a pair for the kid, too.

I got a pic with Dad after the race. He has a fractured leg, but he insisted on getting out of the wheelchair.

I left my tag on my shoes for the rest of the day. THAT'S how happy I was about my race. :)

Once again, the Race for the Cure brought together and amazing event for women who have fought breast cancer, the ones who have survived, and those who lost the battle. I did this for my mom. This is us in 2008 at the Race for the Cure.