Hello everyone! It feels like it has been FOREVER since I have posted a race report and probably for good reason since it has been! I was really nervous about this race, a week leading up to this race I would start thinking about it and would end up with a nervous stomach, anxiety, etc. I'm not really sure why, I've never really had any issues like that over a race, even on the day before. Whatever the reason this one was different and I can only assume it had a lot to do with the fact that this is kinda a new look at running for me. I want this year to be more than just recreational. I want to set PRs, run new distances and really push myself to become a stronger, faster runner. I use faster lightly as I still don't consider myself fast, but I'm faster than when I started! So with that being said I had a goal in mind, run faster than my last PR of 25:45 and better than that run faster than 25min.

I really wasn't sure if this would even be possible. I was out Nov and Dec with IT band issues, I had gain a considerable amount of weight over those two months and I spent the entire month of Jan. nursing myself back to running by doing a "modified" C25K and just really taking it easy. Feb I started picking the running back up and just working on increasing distance and trying to run some runs a little faster than the others. I didn't really throw any speedwork into the mix but I did start doing a 6 mile hilly route once a week which really seems to have helped speed things along. I did several trial runs but I don't think I ever broke 26min for the 5k distance. I was getting a little depressed and was thinking about just throwing in the towel and just making the Rumpshaker a fun run. My wife however wouldn't let me do this and told me that anytime I had set a goal for a race I always met or exceeded it. So I took my wife's wise words and decided to give it my everything.

Sorry that was a bit winded but now on to the race. For those that don't know the Rumpshaker 5k is for colon cancer awareness and the only reason I started running this particular race was because of Mitch (a.k.a Hog4Life). We met up before the race said our hello and was suppose to to our warm-up together but thanks to a nervous stomach it had other plans for me so off to the porta potties I went while Mitch and a friend of his Greg went out for their warm-up.

I finished up my business and went out for a quick 1 mile warm-up and on the way back to the race got stopped by the longest train in the world! About 100 of us had to stand and wait about 10 min for this train to go by before we made our way to the start line. There was 1064 people who registered with chip time and probably another 1000 who didn't. I squeezed my way up near the front so I didn't get hindered by all the walkers and waited for the green light.

They gave the word and off we went, this is a pretty flat/fast course except for the bridge near the beginning of the race. We started off went about .2 miles took a right and there is the bridge. I remember this bridge from last year and remember how hard of a time I had running up it. I was ready this year and told myself I had several weeks of hill training under my belt and I just ran up without skipping a beat. We topped the bridge and began our decent back down. So far this is a pretty fast mile and I just hang in there. Mile 1 is down and I finished in 7:50.

I really really want to run 2 miles with both miles under 8min but I'm just not there yet. Mile 2 is pretty boring, lots of flat road, blah blah blah. Mile 2 was my slowest mile at 8:20.

We are onto Mile 3 and I know that I'm going to have to run back up the bridge. I’m holding an OK pace but I’m beginning to worry about my sub 25. I get to the bottom of the bridge and we are at 2.6 miles and I’m holding a pace of 8:30. I know I need to cut some time off this last mile so I just give it all I had and run up the hill gaining a few seconds. I look down and now I’m at 8:25 and it’s downhill from here. I do everything in my power to turn it up and clock mile 3 at 8:15.

My last kick is the fastest kick I’ve ever produced, I cross the finish line and my watch has my last little bit at a pace of 5:41m/m. I stop my watch and its showing 3.06 miles at 8:06m/m with a finish time of 2:45.

I’m ok with .04 short, there is a number of reasons why it could be off. I run into Mitch after the run and he asks me how I did, after I finally catch my breath I head over to the family and find out that Jon, my cousin who was also running managed to beat his goal as well with a sub 20 time of 19:21.

Of course before I could finish my cousin and Mitch both crossed the finish line. And of course they both have floaters... I WANT A FLOATER!

Here comes Santa Clause, Here comes Santa Clause right now the finish lane!!! (a.k.a Mitch)

Almost to the finish line picture! I passed all them peeps in front of me

We hang around for a while and wait on the Fun Run to start. Both my daughter (4) and my nephew (5) are signed up to run this so I run with EK and Jon runs with Jace. The fun run was awesome and actually cooler than the 5k IMO. EK did really good and ran more at one time than she has any of the runs we did together.

However it all came to a halt when she fell… she’s dramatic, like beyond dramatic. She falls and the world has stopped spinning. The apocalypse has happened, everything you know and love has suddenly vanished. Chaos has taken over. She begins screaming bloody murder, trying to walk without putting pressure on either leg and begging me to pick her up and carry her. This was another Daddy moment for me. Unsure if I should carry her or not I look at her legs and realize she isn’t even bleeding, she’s scratched up pretty bad and dirty.

“Baby, you’re ok, calm down, let’s just walk until your feeling better and we will run to the finish”

“I DON’T WANT TO WALK!!!”

“Come on, your ok, lets finish this”

“IM NOT OK!!!!”

Some people behind me run by us and tell her “Your doing great, keep going”

“NO IM NOT!!!”

Another random lady – “Awww, your so cute, your doing good”

“NO IM NOT!!!”

“Baby, stop being hateful, you’re ok, let’s talk about something else besides your knees. Hmm, how about we go to the dollar theater next weekend and watch Nut Job, you want to see that movie don’t you”

“Yes”

We start talking and she finally calm’s down some and we pick the pace back up and finally make it around to the finish line.

We finish in 15:55 and Jace finished in 11:** something.

I decide to take EK over to the First Aid tent so they can clean up her knees and put a band-aid on her knee. I carry her over there and sit her down and the guy pulls out this spray stuff and a cloth and as soon as he sprays her knee, HOLY FREAKING HELL!!! This little tiny 4 year old lets out a blood curling scream that is causing people all around to stop and stare at us like we are trying to kill her!. I’m having to sit there and hold my child down just so the man can clean her up and bandage her poor little knee. The guy was trying his best not to laugh at my daughter and that’s all I could do. Of course we had to deal with her whining about her knee the entire rest of the day but what can you do?

Here comes my cousin  Jon and nephew Jace sprinting to the finish line!

And here comes me and EK!

Family photo after the FUN RUN!

Poor EK at the First Aid tent. Bless that baby!

Anyways, I’ve gone on long enough, this was a great race and my results are as followed.

AG – 20 / 64

Gender – 168 / 445

Overall – 206 / 1064

Finish Time: 24:44 7:59/mile

This year’s performance

Last year’s performance

Sounds like you ran a good race. Congrats on getting a new PR and finishing under 25:00! It sounds like the fun run was more eventful. Thanks for sharing the RR.

Great job!

Awesome job Jimmy, I was hoping that you had a good race, glad to see that it went so well!  Your DD is hilarious, that story cracked me up - mine is 5 and she can be similarly dramatic at times!

Well done, JBJ. Stick to it and you will get very good at this running stuff.

You KILLED last year's race! Nicely done!

Sorry about your daughter.... I have one that's like that, too.  Sometimes she can fall and be completely fine, and other days she screams like someone cut off her leg if you even bump her.  She just turned 5.  I'm hoping she grows out of it! LOL

Congrats again!

heh...

been there with the DD and drama issue...

been there with the DD and all logic and sense of reason has left the universe...

been there, been highly embarrassed and still been there, part of the duty...

congrats

Great race and great report.  Thanks for including the part about your daughter.  That could have been me that wrote that part as mine is exactly the same.  Good to know we're not alone!