Tag Archives: 5k races

Okatoma 5k Race tomorrow – I think I can, I think I can!


Here I sit on another race day eve and our vow to “go to bed as early as possible” seems to have fallen through…again. We have a sweet baby girl that seems to just know when there’s a race the next morning or if I need to go run, lol. Maybe she just doesn’t want to miss out on something exciting. 🙂 I guess it’s probably a good thing that we didn’t go to bed too early because I’d nearly forgotten to put my running clothes in the dryer. That would have been an unpleasant little surprise in the morning, especially if we’re running late. 

I must admit that I’ve had a little anxiety going on over this race tomorrow. I really don’t know why. We have run in a lot of races this season and it’s only a 5k. Maybe it’s because last year’s race is associated with lots of pain, physically and emotionally, for me. Also, it doesn’t help that Jason has been talking about it non-stop about it being a huge race for weeks, lol!! Oh, and my parents will be there to watch me race for the first time ever too so, of course I’d like to do really well for that reason. I’ll be using my new Nike GPS watch, which I’m not quite used to yet. I’ve run with it twice but still find myself waiting to hear my Ipod count down the distance for me. So…maybe I do know why I’m a little amped up after all, lol. The last couple of mornings have been really cool and I’m hoping that we can squeeze in one more for the race tomorrow. It would be so nice to have the weather working in our favor! It’s supposed to be 49 tonight…so we’ll see! 🙂

As I drove my son Tyler around the race course today, I kept saying, “Now here’s another hill but just remember to pace yourself and you’ll be fine.” Finally, he stopped me and sweetly said with a smile, “Mama, the hills just don’t bother me. I never really even think about them.” What?? It made me wonder if I should think (or not think) more like he does. I’m working hard tonight to think positive and remind myself that I’ve done this many times and I can do it again. I ran hills in a race last month that put the ones in tomorrow’s race to shame…and won 1st place in my age group. I can do this!! (That’s me thinking positve. :))

Besides trying out a new watch this week, I’ve also tried a new food. I bought Chia seeds yesterday after reading about them and learning how great they’re supposed to be for us. I ate some this morning mixed up in my oatmeal and then actually drank some in my water this afternoon. They aren’t bad at all! I did feel super full after drinking them but I think that’s part of what they’re supposed to do. No tummy problems to report and that’s always a good thing for me. Since today has been the first day of me eating them, I’ll let you know more about what I think of them as time goes by.

Tomorrow isn’t just a race day, it’s also a huge milestone for Tyler. His first prom is tomorrow night! He also won a trophy in band on Monday night for most improved. It seems just like yesterday that he was Zach’s age, who by the way, graduated from K-4 last night! It’s been an exciting week and we’re so proud of both of them (and the rest of our children, of course). Time really does go by so fast….

Unless you’re running and then it can go pretty slow. 🙂

I think it’s finally bedtime for us. Have a wonderful weekend!






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Columbia’s Relay for Life 5k recap – A family thing


Another week is beginning to wind down around here and that means that we have another race day coming up on Saturday. The Okatoma Festival River Run 5k is Jason’s hometown run. He calls it his “Super Bowl” of races mainly because it’s a race he’s run in since the very first one which was about 15 years ago and because this race usually signifies the end of our racing season. (Although we are kicking around another race or two in the next few weeks this time.) Last year’s Okatoma race was awful for me. If you go back and read my very first blog, you’ll see that, besides being a new runner (only 3 months), I was injured with a stress fracture too. Obviously, I thought I only had horrible shin splints and ran it anyway (not a wise choice). This race on Saturday will be a sort of redemption for me, which puts a little pressure on me, to say the least. I know I can run faster than I could last year. I’m not in pain. So, now it’s time to put my positive thinking cap on and start focusing. I had been doing hill training pretty faithfully in the last few weeks but I didn’t do hills last week and I didn’t do them this week but I’m going to trust my body, my legs. I’m thinking it’ll be an appropriate race to listen to “Tick, Tick Boom” by The Hives for a little bit of motivation: “You know I’ve done it before and I can do it some more, I’ve got my eye on the score…”  The last few days have been really cool in the mornings. Hopefully, that cool weather will hold out for Saturday morning (even if it’s just until 8:30)! I’m just going to keep visualizing a great race.  I’ll update you in a few days on how it went. 🙂


The race last Saturday in my hometown was a good one as far as race courses go and the weather was really pleasant. It’s also fun getting to go stay the night with my parents and visiting with them. There were 61 people in the Relay for Life 5k put on by The Columbian Progress. Our oldest son, Tyler joined us for this race. My sister-in-law, Donna even drove over and ran in it with us too. She’s only been running for a couple of months now and is doing great! I keep telling her that I’m glad we’re in different age groups because she’s getting faster very quickly and I’d have to start worrying about some serious competition. We actually ran together for a large part of the race and finished pretty close together. I did a better job on this race of pacing myself and not feeling like I was going to collapse towards the end. I had just enough energy saved up to finish out my last km really strong. My time was 30:32 and Donna’s time was 31:16. She’s already reaching times that took me nearly a year to even get close to!! There’s no telling how fast she’ll be in a year. Like I said, it’s just a good thing we’re in different age groups! 🙂

Donna and me in the background of this picture. (Pink shirt & green shirt) *This picture was taken by The Columbian Progress

Donna approaching the finish line!

Jason running in with me towards the finish line.( I don't even know what to say about my hair that day!!)

Almost to the finish line! (I loved this picture for only one reason - both of my feet are off the ground!! Woohoo!)

Jason had a great race that day. His finish time was 22:25 and he finished 3rd overall!! He’s never done that before so it was a huge deal. I’m so proud of him!! He’s been working really hard. Tyler had a really great finishing time too. He hadn’t run in 2 weeks and still had a time of 27:49. I think he has the potential to be really fast with just a little practice.

Here's Tyler getting ready to cross the finish line. *Picture taken by The Columbian Progress

Top 3 Finishers Overall *Picture taken by The Columbian Progress

The disappointing thing about this race is that after paying $30/entry fee, they didn’t have anything but water (no bananas or oranges) afterward and no awards for age groups…actually no awards for anyone. I know it was more of a charity race but it’s nice for runners that have worked hard and done well to be given just a little something to recognize it. (Even a certificate printed out would have been ok.) That’s just my opinion though. I’m not much of a complainer about races so as Forrest Gump would say, “That’s all I have to say about that.”

Besides those things, it was fun and of course, helped out towards a really good cause which is Relay for Life.

My best buddy, Stephanie, showed up to cheer us on. (I somehow got Jason's number stuck on my skirt when I gave him a hug, lol)

Jason and me after the race.

Tyler and me

I received my new Nike GPS watch in the mail 2 days ago so I plan on blogging about it soon and letting y’all know what my thoughts are on it. So far, I think it’s going to work great. I still haven’t gotten everything figured out on it but I will. I’m definitely going to miss my Nike lady’s encouragement in my ear but I do like the GPS.


More to come on the watch….





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