Run the D.O.G Street 5k

Hello!

This past weekend I made a trip down to VA to see my parents for a bit, and do something new - run a race in my home town!

I grew up in Williamsburg, VA. Left the area when my husband joined the Army, and it wasn't until 2012 when we were living in GA that I started running. I hadn't run a 5k race since December 2013 so I was kind of itching to do another and see if I could PR. At the same time I also wanted to visit my parents now that it's springtime. My mom and I love to take walks together and it's a beautiful time of year to do it. That settles it... run a 5k in Williamsburg for the first time ever and spend a couple days with the family.

The weather ended up being a little chilly on Saturday morning, they were calling for rain later in the afternoon and it managed to hold out until after the race was over. My mom and dad were there with me, I answered their many questions about all things running and racing because this experience was pretty new to them. There actually ended up being quite a few people there - all ages ran the race, lots and lots of kids, middle aged, and plenty of seniors too.

Williamsburg always does things a little differently. We are known for history because the downtown area is a living museum - a reconstructed Colonial town with live actors in period dress, along with taverns, blacksmiths, tailors, brick makers, leather makers, general stores, churches, etc. We started the race at 7:30 with a song by the fife and drum (pictured above) and ran down Prince George street. There were so many people to dodge. I know for a fact people wave jumped, I did the honor system and hopped into the 25-27 minute wave. And I know this definitely affected my time (more on that later) there were so many little kids running and I literally almost ran into some of them. Anyway, we ran towards the college, passed William and Mary's stadium, ended up on Scotland street which has many of the iconic college deli's and pubs, kept going that way for awhile until we ended up at the Governor's palace. We were now in the heart of Colonial Williamsburg (CW) dodging horse crap and everything. Headed down to the old jail, turned a corner to find some sheep in a pen who must have been cheering us on because they were baahing like crazy. Ended up at the Capital building, then turned onto Duke of Gloucester (DOG) street for the final .5 miles and I could see the finish line. Dodged more horse crap, also had to dodge a kid who got in my way right before the finish.

In the grey short sleeve, trying to get around the crowd

I paced myself pretty well for this race, maintained a 8:36 pace (26:49)  but it wasn't quite fast enough because I did not PR that day. Like I said, lots of people around. Oh well. This was my second fastest 5k and that's ok. I loved the race though - it hit all the major historical spots in CW. The colonial buildings, lush green trees and colorful gardens, farm animals, and having to dodge horse shit on the streets. It all felt like home. Having my parents there was nice, and they both understand my crazy lifestyle a little better now. My mom came and found me around mile 1 and cheered me on.

The medal and shirt are awesome! Especially because they have my mom's church on them which she went nuts over. She's adamant about getting her own shirt.

After the race we had breakfast at a favorite local coffee shop which was amazing as always. My dad had to go so me and my mom did some shopping around town (it began raining at this point so we didn't take our long walk) my mom even got me a couple things from the Under Armor outlet. That night we had dinner with both my brothers at a tavern down town. The whole experience was awesome - the rain and cold was unwelcome but we made the best of it anyway.

Sleeping on my mom's couch for 5 hours a night took it's toll on me, so this week I only have 1 afternoon gym workout in. Prefer going in the mornings by far. On the list for this week are a couple runs, then a workout with my husband!