We should've had pancakes

Monday morning, on what I hoped would be a lazy Labor Day, my alarm went off at 6 a.m. I was still exhausted and sore from my 10-mile run on Saturday, and I had no problem hitting the snooze button. However, Trea, who does no favors for my beauty sleep, bounded out of bed ready to race the Free Bella Vista 5K. A few days before, I had tweeted and emailed every local runner I knew, thinking it would be fun to run a free race with friends and get my speed work out of the way for the day. But at 6 a.m. on a holiday, I had no interest in my running shoes.

I snoozed my alarm until 6:50...for a 7:30 a.m. race! I finally talked myself into going, threw on the first clothes I could find, had a quick bite to eat and rushed out the door. The race was just a few minutes from my house in the wooded, rural hills of Bella Vista, and since it was free, it didn't feel like a real race. There were no nervous jitters. I hadn't spent one second thinking about my iPod playlist. I just rolled out of bed and showed up. And y'all, it was 56 degrees!!

It was a beautiful, sunny morning, and several of my friends showed up all sleepy-eyed and ready to run. I don't know how many people were running and the results haven't been posted (Trea is super upset about this). There was no chip timing; just a spray-painted starting line and a kid taking our bib numbers when we came back for the finish. It was awesome. We only had a minute or two to warm up since we arrived just before it started, so I was standing at the starting line with chattering teeth and freezing fingers. Hard to believe that just a week ago I was melting!

Guess who's still sleepy...

At the gun, Trea disappeared almost immediately, as usual. He loves to sprint the first mile of a 5K. My friends, Alicia and Ben, were racing for the first time, and they got a fast start too. Laura ran with me the whole time, and I didn't even turn my music on until after mile 2. She was recovering from the Hotter N' Hell half marathon trail race from the weekend before, and Kelly was recovering from Hood to Coast. We were some achy runners! I had the best time chatting with Laura, keeping a semi-easy pace, but not going slow either. I should've expected hills since every road in Bella Vista goes straight up, but this was seriously the hilliest course I've ever run. I don't think I've ever run so many hills - ever - not in training, and certainly not in a race. It felt almost like a trail run! A good bit of it was on a gravel road that was all uphill, but the cool temperatures made it feel less awful. I was so glad to not be wheezing in 90% humidity.

Laura and I finished in about 31:25, and Trea, Alicia and Ben were already done. Trea set a new PR and finished in 25:55! This is why he's upset about not having results posted. He really wants to see that number on a finisher list, and I don't blame him.

Alicia and Ben both finished well under 30 minutes, I believe, and this was a tough course for a first race. I can't wait to see what they do at their next one!

Alicia and Ben

Kelly did awesome, and I'm so glad she came out to the woods to run with us!

Cheese

This is the first race that I haven't really raced, and it was refreshing to just get out and run with friends and have a good time. After the 5K, there was also a fun run for kids and later on, a FREE pancake breakfast. Hindsight is always 20/20, and I'm still kicking myself for not staying for pancakes. We had gotten sweaty during our run and still had time to kill before they fed people, and we decided we were too cold to hang around. Big mistake. I hear the pancakes were phenomenal. We'll definitely have some next year!