Kingwood Center 5k

W and I did our first race together last weekend.  We have ran the Kingwood Center 5k together the past few years as this amazing place holds a lot of meaning for us.  We had our first date there in 2014 and were married there this past September.  It's certainly W's favorite place in Mansfield as the gardens there are spectacular!

W's training has been inconsistent at best this year.  She was very nervous going into this one.  She did have two things going for her: the heat wasn't nearly as bad as last year and there were no cicadas!  If you look at last year's race, the cicadas were dive-bombing us during the whole thing.  It was no fun at all.

This year's race was in much better temps, though still warm, and it was just an overall nice day.  W had the goal of getting the race in under the one hour mark.  I had a feeling she could beat her time from last year of 55:48.  We started near the back of the pack, but W wanted to start off with some jogging.  That surprised me and she did a good job of starting strong.  We did the usual weird loop in the high school parking lot and made our way toward the B&O Bike Trail.  W was keeping up a strong pace and finished the first mile in just over 17:00.

We continued walking at a brisk pace.  I was walking at a pace just faster than what W was comfortable at, which I'm pretty sure she noticed.  We continued on the bike path as the winners were circling back past us.  North Lake Park offers a change of pace in this race as we head off the path for a quick lap around the lake.  W was still going strong and was doing much better than last year.  The geese weren't out like they usually are at the park.  We finished our loop and hit the second mile marker soon after getting back on the bike path.  W had a slightly slower second mile but was still on pace.

The third mile is primarily on the path.  We were both feeling the heat as the sun had come out from behind the clouds.  W was trying to slow down a bit but I kept her on pace.  She let me know she wasn't pleased with that!  We finally made our way off the path to the Kingwood Center for a loop around the east side of the grounds to the downhill finish.  W finished hard and came in with a final time of 54:17.  She took a minute and a half off her time from last year!  With no training!

Needless to say, I am very proud of W for gutting it out.  She has earned a break and will walk at the upcoming Liberty 5k in Ontario.  I have one 5k between now and then.

Next race: Moving Hearts and Soles 5k- Galion, OH