Diva Dash 5k

Saturday was race day! Signing up for the race began back in December when I was deciding on Christmas gifts. We opted on gifting experiences as opposed to items this year and remembering that Mom mentioned wanting to do a 5k at one point in time, I signed us up! Mom and I both started training at the beginning of the new year!

By the time race day came around my grandma, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, and Belle were all registered to tackle this 5k!

I wish I would've gotten a pic of all of us together, but it was a pretty hectic morning, so I didn't even think of it at the time! But here's a pic of me and Mary and another of Mary and Linda, so that's the best documentation I have! :)

Mary took off right away. She came in 9th in our age range out of a couple of hundred of other runners! She's way out of my league. 

I was still messing with my dumb phone and wasn't quite ready, but I really wanted my running app to be accurate so I could keep track of our progress! (Also, I already needed to potty by this point, and I needed to keep track of how much longer I had to hold it!)

My grandma and Linda walked with Belle. It looks like everyone was pretty much all smiles at this point!

That didn't last long. Apparently at the beginning of the race, Belle saw a glove on the ground. She thought it was mine and then cried for three miles (because of a glove that wasn't even mine). Linda ended up carrying Belle for part of the way. These two ladies deserve an extra medal for not just completing a 5k, but for withstanding the drama of a three-year-old. I suppose that's why she's our Li'l Diva-- just like her shirt says. 

My ankle held up pretty well. I picked up an ankle brace at the store and I was good to go. I hadn't ran at all in the two weeks while my ankle healed and I could definitely tell the difference! Thursday before the race, I ended up with some bug that was going around the extended family, but it seemed to hit me a little harder being pregnant. A quick visit to the ER determined that I was a little dehydrated from being nauseous and not eating or drinking along with having extra acid in my stomach thanks to the extra hormones. I left feeling much better after getting some fluids and scoring some amazing anti-nausea pill. By the time race day came around, my only hope was to finish! Thankfully my ankle brace, ant-nausea pills, and pain meds made the opportunity possible!

I'm proud I crossed the finish line, even if one of the volunteers held up me while I caught my breath and got back on balance. Mom and I ran together through the whole race and we clocked in around 37 minutes. Mom could've have been a little faster if I wasn't slowing her down, but she finished 14th in her age bracket!! It was nice to run together though! At one point during the run and we were trekking up a hill, I looked over and said, "Merry Christmas!" :)

We caught our breath and waited for the rest of our crew. We crossed the finish line with Grandma and Belle-- four generations completing the race! My grandma came in first place in her age bracket! She was the one and only participant over 80. Completing a 5k was no big deal for her as she probably walks more than that each day, but it's that walking every day that has kept her healthy and able to participate with us! 

As soon as I knew we'd have four generations in the race, I knew we needed fun t-shirts and I had one person in mind! My friend Tricia is an amazing artist and makes super cute onesies for her daughter.... BY HAND! I'm too embarrassed to show you my original idea sketch, but she transformed it into the cutest thing ever. The shirts all say "Diva Generation" and we all have our respective number. With a pearl necklace, of course! (Did I mention she did this by hand?)

And here's the back! Our names with how they relate to our Li'l Diva along with our ages. 

We got compliments on these shirts left and right and people loved that we did this together! I mean, when I'm 81, I want to be walking 5k's like a boss! (I mean, that is, if we just don't use hover boards and stuff). 

It was such a fun morning! Mostly anyway. Those hills were awful. I'm glad to say I've done it. I want to keep up my exercise routine and stay active through the remainder of the pregnancy, but no more 5k's this year!