I like to work out and I enjoy exercise, but I don't really love to run. I've had to run a lot playing soccer but running has never been my favorite form of exercise. But, I met some nice ladies at the Y named Carrie and Colleen, and we started running three days a week after our HIIT class at the YMCA. Carrie and Colleen both have run half marathons and full marathons but I've only run a 5K. Colleen asked us if we would be interested in running in the Diva Run in Galveston and I said I would run a 5K but nothing more than that. Carrie said she'd run the half, but she would be busy with soccer that weekend. Colleen and I both signed up to run the 5K and we would both have our families with us. Colleen is a mom to 5 kids and her oldest is 13 and her youngest is 2. Together with our 9 kids, we pack out the childcare room at the Y. We have a lot in common and she's very kind and down to earth.
Since moving to Houston, we haven't visited Galveston so we took this opportunity to make a family weekend out of it. We made a hotel reservation for Saturday night and drove to Galveston after the kids finished their soccer and Tball games at the YMCA. I had to pick up my race packet before 5 so that was our first stop and then we parked on the street and walked along the beach (Sea Wall Blvd). We wanted to walk along Pleasure Pier but it cost too much just to enter, so we decided to eat at Fishtales instead. We were told we'd have to wait 45 minutes but it ended up only being 20 minutes before getting a great seat on the balcony. Dinner was nice and the weather was great for sitting outside. After dinner we checked into the hotel for bed since we had to wake up at 5:00 am.
Morning came quickly and the children were tired, but they were troopers about getting up so early. B and the kids took me as close to the start as they could and then I met up with Colleen. B walked around with the kids to find them breakfast and I told him to be back at the finish line about 30 minutes after the start, which was at 7:00 am. Colleen and I estimated that we'd finish the 5K in about 30 minutes and we lined up towards the back of wave 1. There were so many people...almost 2000 people signed up for the 5K. The half started at 6:30 and then the 5K at 7:00.
I followed Colleen at the start as we weaved in and out of the crowd trying to find our pace and space. I think we weaved in and out for the first entire mile and then between mile 1 and 2, the crowd started to thin out. At one point I had to stop and tie my shoe and then when I caught back up with Colleen, she told me to go ahead if I could. I didn't want to leave her, but she said she couldn't go any faster and if I could run faster then I should. So I did. I ran and listened to my iPod and my mindset was I would just run and pass the person in front of me one at a time. I ended up finishing in 25:16 and B and the kids didn't get back in time to see me cross the finish line. It was fine because I had told him not to come back until 7:30. I ended up finishing 2nd in my age group and my average mile was 8:07.
I never ran than fast with the ladies from the Y but Colleen said you always run faster on race day because your adrenaline is flowing. I had a good time and the whole vibe was very positive and fun. After getting my award, we went back to the hotel to pack up and check out before going to the beach to meet Colleen and her family. Colleen, her husband, Doug and their 5 kids (Logan, Sarah, Matthew, Grace and Anna) were waiting for us at the Galveston State Park. We met them there and the kids played in the sand and water for a few hours together. It was really windy and a bit chilly for my taste but the kids didn't really care. We didn't even have their swim suits because we hadn't planned to go to the beach but Colleen and her family invited us so we thought it would be fun and it was. Doug seems really nice and we enjoyed spending some time with their family. We left a little after noon and stopped at Sonic before getting on the road back home. While driving home it rained pretty hard and I was very thankful that it didn't rain like that during the race. Our family had a great weekend in Galveston and even R wants to run with me in the Diva Run next year. We will see, but I'm thankful for Colleen and her encouragement to run the 5K.
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