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2015 AAUW Morgan Hill Wildflower 5k stroller run race recap

2015 AAUW Morgan Hill Wildflower 5k stroller run race recap

I again had the opportunity to promote ZOOMA Napa Valley at a nearby race, and when I saw that there was a separate stroller division for both the 5k and 10k distance, I immediately signed up. After A and I had so much fun down in rainy Santa Cruz for she.is.beautiful, I figured that this past weekend’s AAUW Wildflower 5k down in Morgan Hill would be equally fun. Spoiler: we weren’t disappointed.

The race is a pretty low-key, local type of event, but it’s also an impressive, well-oiled machine that shows that its organizers know what they’re doing; I think they’ve been doing it for a while now. The race benefits various scholarship/tech camp types of programs for girls in the area, as well as STEM programs, and the women from the AAUW, as well as the various scholarship recipients/camp participants were out volunteering at the event.  Participants can run or walk the 10k or 5k, and kids 5+ can run a 2k on the high school track, near the 10k/5k races’ starting line. I thought the kids’ race was especially neat because it took place before the 10k/5k, instead of the usual after.

Though I didn’t register A for the 2k because she’s still too young for it, after we had run a 2 mile warm-up on the track in advance of the 5k, I think her little baby endorphins got the better of her because she insisted on getting out of the stroller and running 800m — in her $1 flip-flops she adores — and ended up jumping into the tail end of the kids’ 2k, even finishing in the chute, getting a medal and everything. I guess that means my kid’s a bandit; call the mother of the year committee to file my nomination.

 

800m, 2k, whatever...
800m, 2k, whatever…

 

The 10k folks started 15 minutes before the 5k gang, and just like at the previous weekend’s race, A and I inched our way toward the front in an effort to minimize all the early-race congestion that we faced at s.i.b. There were a lot of other stroller runners at this race — which was super cool — and kinda like at s.i.b., I didn’t really have any goals or expectations for this race. I thought if I really wanted to relatively push myself, I could probably fare pretty well, but honestly, I just wanted to have a good time. I love races and racing and the whole race experience — with pinning a bib on my shirt, waiting around at the starting line, the nervous excitement and anticipation, the adrenaline that starts after hearing the starting gun, the whole 9 yards — but sharing this stuff with my daughter (and in-utero Kiddo Dos) is really more of my jam these days than fretting over some completely arbitrary splits on my Garmin. I mean, good freakin’ grief, I’ve got nothing to prove right now, ya know? I’ve got my whole life to run a killer 5k; I’ve only got a tiny window to run one while pushing my three year-old and while I’m pregnant with my second kid.

We were soon off and running, and moving into the very beginning of the pack was a wise move because the congestion was considerably better than it was the week before. Only a handful of male stroller runners were ahead of me, which was cool, and not even .25 miles into the race, A completely surprised me and was excitedly asking to get out and run — something she didn’t do during s.i.b. and something that she generally doesn’t do when I push her. More often than not, she’s totally content to just soak it all in and observe the world from the comfort of the BOB.  That early into the race, there was still enough runner congestion around me that I felt uneasy pulling over and letting her get out — plus the fact that we were on back country roads that were open to vehicular traffic — so I told her that I’d let her get out “in a little bit” to run, not really knowing if she was actually serious about wanting to run or if she was just being antsy.

At about 1.4 mi in, once we had crossed over from the country roads of Morgan Hill (with lovely views of the foothills straight ahead of us, #swoon), into a residential area, I asked A again if she still wanted to run, and her enthusiastic “Mommy I wanna RUN!!!!” response confirmed my suspicion. Other runners who were passing by us remarked how awesome it was that she was so adamant about getting up to run, and I’m sure I had a completely idiotic/proud mom look on my face as I chased behind her, taking pictures, when I wasn’t reminding her to watch where she was running, since she had a propensity to run forward while looking behind her and waving to the other runners. 🙂 She had the hugest grin on her face, and the fact that she was so compelled to run — completely on her own volition — just made me beam. I don’t expect or necessarily want her to enjoy running because I do, but seeing how happy she is while she runs just makes me beam. It’s cool to see her becoming her own little person as she figures out what she likes to do and how she likes to have fun.

don't worry, she's not barefoot; her trusty $1 flip-flops are surely the better option
don’t worry, she’s not barefoot; her trusty $1 flip-flops are surely the better option

 

For the remaining 2.1 miles of the race, A basically ran, walked, or was pushed by me, though I’d guess she did most of the work herself and only hopped back in the stroller for super short reprieves; she’s not yet 4 and still hasn’t figured out pacing. She eventually realized that running forward while looking backwards made things considerably harder, but once she rectified that situation, it was smooth sailing. She got a kick out of talking to the volunteers at the water station (and petting their dogs), smiling and waving to the photographers, and talking to all the other stroller-bound parents and kids whom we passed in the final stretch. A also provided her own soundtrack to the race for runners who weren’t fortunate enough to be wearing headphones; I apologize if you inexplicably have Mary Poppins’ “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” in your head. Mary is a big deal in our household right now.

Anyway, we finished the race with me pushing her along, even though she had jumped out at the mile 3 marker and had balls-out sprinted for about .05 mile, and she (and I) were just as happy as could be. We earned ourselves a lovely green ribbon (the kind that you probably got from your high school track meets) for our 28:50 minutes worth of 5k-ing together, and she got treated to a lovely butterfly face painting job from a middle-schooler. Seriously, my kid is crazy for running, Mary Poppins, and face-painting these days, so I don’t know if she could have been any happier.

she also insisted on a butterfly on her forehead. your guess is as good as mine.
she insisted that it go on her forehead. your guess is as good as mine. #runwolfpack

 

So much fun. We called it a day after another 2 cool-down miles on the track, mostly with me pushing her as we watched a boys’ soccer match, but a few jaunts of her chasing after a little boy on the track, and she didn’t take off her bandited kids’ 2k race medal until hours later. On that note, I figured everything came out in the wash from all the running/walking she eventually did between our WU, race, and CD and that she more than covered the 2k distance (can you tell how guilty I feel about this!?).

The AAUW Wildflower race in Morgan Hill was a really well-organized, well-done event and just a gem for families and runners to attend, and I anticipate that it will continue to grow in size and that we’ll be back for future iterations. The 10k is USATF-certified, too, so maybe that will be a postpartum target race for me in 2016. Plus, both the 5k and 10k courses were flat, which can be hard to come by in these parts. Despite our lovely jump in pace — can you tell where my girl was dictating our speed?! — the back country roads course really is conducive to a nice PR, if that’s what you’re after.

Wearing my ZOOMA swag to help promote a race/race series that I dig, connecting with the other runners and moms’ groups, and running with my girl this time — and actually running, running with her — made this whole race morning such a sweet memory and experience.  Brava, AAUW. Brava.

2015 she.is.beautiful ‘baby mama’ stroller 5k race recap

2015 she.is.beautiful ‘baby mama’ stroller 5k race recap

On Sunday morning, A and I trekked down to Santa Cruz, about 45 minutes away, to participate in the She.is.Beautiful 5k race, specifically in the ‘baby mama’/stroller division. Santa Cruz is Meg land, as far as I’m concerned, and luckily, she was racing the 10k that morning–along with her friend Lesley–so we all met up at Meg’s before running about 2 miles to the race start on West Cliff, parallel to the ocean. I should have stopped to take pictures on our run over, but suffice it to say that seeing surfers in wetsuits out tackling waves is pretty sweet. The wetsuit-clan surfers really intrigued A, as well.

It was weirdly humid–which made sense, since soon after the race, it began drizzling–and otherwise kinda gray out, but Santa Cruz is beautiful any day of the week, in any type of weather (though weirdly, every time I’ve run in SC with Meg and my daughter, it’s raining; maybe the three of us should run together in SC more often to mitigate the drought damage?).

R-L: Meg, Lesley, and the two of us (PC: Meg)
L-R: Meg, Lesley, and the two of us (PC: Meg)

 

I was running s.i.b. while pushing A to help promote the ZOOMA Napa Valley half marathon and 10k in June (still time to register, cough cough). I had heard of s.i.b. from last year’s race, but I think it might have also been Oakland Marathon weekend, which prevented me from doing it. At any rate, like I wrote before, even before s.i.b. began, I totally digged its message and its feel-good vibes, and the fact that I could race with my daughter in a stroller-specific division was just groovy. I hadn’t raced with her since maaaaaaybe sometime in 2012, and truth be told, I haven’t run with her in months (because I’m usually running when she’s at school), so I figured that this race would be special for us. Oh, and right, running with A while I was pregnant with Kiddo Dos… yeah, family affair. I’m all over that.

Anyway, I didn’t have any time goals going into the race because a) pregnant, b) stroller, c) racing a 5k is gruelling, even sans stroller or sans pregnancy, so I just wanted to do the best I could–whatever that was. Based on previous years’ results, I thought that I *might* have a chance to fare pretty well, but the thing about looking at previous years’ results in this race–or in any race–is that you have absolutely no control over anything. In other words, you don’t get to decide who does or doesn’t show up to race, so truthfully, the only thing–the best thing–you can do is just worry about your own race and not really give a whole lot of mental real estate to anyone (or anything) else. That said, that was my plan– to just run (and push A) and hope for the best. Plus, stroller running feels like you’re constantly running uphill, even on pancake-flat surfaces, and that shit is tough. Thus, my plan to not have a plan.

Shortly after those couple warm-up miles with Meg and Lesley, those two split off to prepare for their 10k, and A and I continued to do our own little warm-up, which included A getting out of the stroller, sprinting for about .1 mile, and promptly popping a squat in the woods to pee. Honestly, I think she was as excited to get out and run around as she was to piss in public (sweet child of mine). We meandered our way to the near-front of the starting area, since everything was self-seeded and I didn’t want to get stuck behind throngs of participants, and fortunately, for the most part, the other participants–99.9% of them women–were cool with a stroller duo inching our way toward the front. Even though the race had a separate stroller division, there wasn’t a separate stroller start–nor was there any sort of separation or delayed start for the 5k and 10k participants–so I just had to hope that we wouldn’t get plowed over in the beginning mile by faster participants.

Once the race began, I quickly realized that I should have gotten to the starting area even earlier than I did. It wasn’t a huge deal, but the best I could do was announce ourselves as we tried to pass people. The BOB Revolution SE, while an amazing running stroller, isn’t particularly nimble, and I was trying to be extra cautious and avoid hitting anyone or clipping anyone’s ankles. Unfortunately, within the first 20 or so meters, we came up on a woman who was walking/running very close to us and who didn’t hear our announcement, and she fell to the ground, seemingly in pain, because we had apparently clipped her; however, when I (and the other women in her vicinity) asked her repeatedly if she was in pain or needed help or anything, she insisted that she was fine and that we all go on. I felt like a tool–and apologized profusely–but took her at her word that she was ok. I still feel like an ass about it.

Thankfully, with the exception of that first 20 meters, the rest of the 5k was smooth sailing. By about half a mile in, the crowd had thinned considerably, so we didn’t fear for anyone’s ankles or Achilles any longer. I kept scanning the crowd for other strollers, saw one, caught up to her around mile 2, and chatted with her for a bit before learning that she was running the 10k that morning. This other baby mama runner was super sweet (and strong!), and she’d go on to finish 1st or 2nd in the 10k division. I’d later learn that she was just 12 weeks postpartum and that she was pushing her two year-old in the 10k.

True to form for 5ks for me, pregnant or not, by about mile 2/mile 2 and change, I was ready to be done. I started my watch early, so I think my first mile split was a low 8, and my second around a 7:35 or so. The 5k and 10k folks split once we got back to West Cliff, and all I could do for the final 1.1 miles (or less, since I didn’t know how wrong my watch was) was just think 8 more minutes, 7 more minutes and 50 seconds, over and over again, a la Kimmy Schmidt and “you can do anything for 10 seconds at at time.” During our first mile, in part to announce ourselves as we approached and passed the other runners, and in part to keep A entertained, we talked about how many pink tutus, shoes, shirts, wigs, and socks we were seeing–the s.i.b. race labels itself as “the pinkest 5k and 10k” around, and participants really go to town with it– but during that final mile, A and I barely talked except to mention the very sweet motivational sides adorning the side of the course or to greet the volunteers and photographers.

convinced we're running uphill
convinced we’re running uphill. I love her expression of absolute disgust.

 

Sometime in the final mile, a spectator yelled that we were the first stroller–awesome–so I just tried to focus on my turnover and not get passed by too many other runners, stroller-bound or not.  Physically, I felt fine, but that whole “stroller running feels like constantly running uphill” thing I mentioned earlier? Yeah. With probably fewer than 20 strides left–practically in the finishers’ chute–a couple of other (non-stroller-bound) women passed us, which burned, but I felt pretty happy that at least one of those women was far less than half my age. You go, 13 year old… you go! That final mile was around an 8:teen– an ugly way to finish a 5k, especially when the previous mile was a 7:3x something, but whatev. Happens.

the best part of 5ks is when you're almost done with them
the best part of 5ks is when you’re almost done with them

 

I had no expectations or time goals for the day, and I’m totally satisfied with how things fared. Honestly, I initially told myself that if I could post 9s while running with A, what with being 19 weeks pregnant and carrying around 10+ pounds than usual, that I’d be ecstatic. Besides feeling like I’m running uphill while pushing a stroller, even on the flat s.i.b. course, running with A means that I’m pushing more than 70 pounds (the stroller is 30-35, A is 40+) and essentially running one-handedly; suffice it to say that it’s an entirely different feeling than what you get when you run and can use both your arms simultaneously and not push anything in front of you. Those factors made me not particularly care about my time but instead, made me finish with a huge smile on my face, shitty splits be damned, because at no other time in my life have I managed to run a 5k while pregnant and while pushing my three-year old … and win our division (!).

finishing! one of us is THRILLED
finishing! one of us is THRILLED

 

Eventually, A and I met up with Meg and Lesley and learned that they all had excellent/PR races as well, so it was good times and good vibes all around. For our efforts, the race rewarded A and me with a babysling from Santa Cruz-based Onya Baby, and I very much look forward to using it come August. 🙂  A practically spent most of her infancy in a sling, being worn by C or me, so I anticipate that we’ll get a lot of use out of the Onya (thank you, again!).

After the race concluded, in the on-and-off again misty drizzle, A and I posted some additional cool-down miles–including about .8 of a mile that A insisted that she run/walk herself (!)–and called it a morning. Besides the usual race atmosphere, I really enjoyed seeing how many mother-daughter, sister, best friends, moms’ groups, and even wedding party teams participated in the race together. I think that this race is really special to a lot of people in the area, and after doing it with my kid(s), I can totally understand why. During some of our cool-down miles, A and I trekked back over to the finish line to watch more participants come in, and dammit if I didn’t have to suppress some raging pregnancy hormones and not cry watching some of these women finish their races. She.is.beautiful is obviously just really special and really meaningful to a lot of people, and that’s just fuckin’ lovely if you ask me.

totally sweet picture if my super sweaty crotch didn't ruin it
totally sweet picture if my super sweaty crotch didn’t ruin it

I really enjoyed racing s.i.b. and am quite grateful to ZOOMA for allowing A and me to race and promote ZNV in the process. She.is.beautiful was well-organized, super inspiring and motivational, and really, just a lot of fun; plus, the 5k course is probably pretty fast, provided you’re not 19 weeks pregnant and pushing 70 pounds of kid and stroller.

Next up: another 5k stroller division race with A, this time the AAUW Wildflower 5k on Sunday in Morgan Hill. Looking forward to it!