Ashland Harvest 5k (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

Many years ago, when I was training for my first half marathon, I heard about the Ashland Harvest 10k.  I had always wanted to do it as we do not have many 10ks around here and I have always liked that distance.  I was happy to hear that they also had a 5k option.  To my surprise, they have always had the 5k option and I never realized it.

I signed up for this race a few weeks ago before one of the price bumps.  This would be the race I did for October.  I had been looking forward to it, as Ashland is such a nice little quaint town.  Most of my bike rides are from my house up through Ashland and back.

They had packet pickup for a couple hours the evening before as well as an hour before the race started.  I decided that I would get up early and get my bib before the race.  That would give me time to get parked and situated and not worry about anything last minute.

That morning it had been raining, but radar showed that by the time the race started, it would be sprinkles if not gone.  I got my bib and shirt and two tickets for door prizes.

The door prizes ranged from $25 off oil, to a gift certificate for Creative Memories, to jewelry.  The drawing was at 8:30, so everyone would just need to check back after they were done with their race.  I put my tickets in and headed back to my car.

On the way back I saw that they were setting up a pin for two horses.  I made a bee line over there to say hi to the two beauties.  It turned out that they were from Wings of Hope Ranch which rescues and rehabilitates horses.  There are free programs for children who are in need, no matter what type of need.  It's mutual help between the horses and children.


I went back to my car to shed the jacket and sweats and get ready.  As I headed back to the main area I heard someone call my name.  It was a lady that I see from time to time at the gym.  She actually volunteers with Wings of Hope Ranch and was only running to support them.

It was time for the race to start so we headed to the start.  The 10k start was at 8 and 5k at 8:10.  The 10k had a separate start line and they did their thing.  I stretched some and just kinda tried to enjoy the moment.  It was in the mid-50's and the rain had stopped.  It would be a nice morning to run.  There were some announcements and then the National Anthem and then we were off.


The race started on a unpaved path that went from the road we were on to the road next to the railroad.  I hate running on unpaved paths cause I'm such a clitz.  But I made it to the other road without issue.


My knee had been bothering me a lot more then usual the last few weeks, so I tried to keep an eye on it.  So far so good as I continued my 30sec/30sec run/walk.  We ran parallel to the rail road for about a mile.  I was bummed that no train came while we were running next to it.  The 10k course was a bit different so there were runners coming towards us for a little bit of that part.


About mile in, we turned off the road next to the train tracks.  We were now running through a neighborhood.  Even though I bike a lot through Ashland, I have never been to this part of the town.  It was nice to see a different part while running.  A lot of the houses had their Halloween decoration out, and I enjoyed seeing all sorts of scary items on the lawn.

We had our first an only water stop.  I actually didn't grab water as I really wasn't too thirsty and I knew I would get a bottle at the end, so I kept on trucking.  Around mile 2 you could see we were near the finish line.  I knew we had a turn off soon, to get the extra mile in, but I don't like when races get you so close to the finish line when you are not close to being done.

After the turn away from the finish line, we ran through another cute neighborhood.  At this point the 5k and 10k were on the same course and would finish together.  There were a handful of runners around me at any point of the race.  I knew the ones that zoomed past me were the 10k runners and the rest I was playing leap frog with.

At this point my knee started to bother me.  I tried to slow it down and made sure that I took all of my walk breaks.  But after I did my second mile well under 13 minutes, I knew why my knee was hurting.  But at the same time, I knew that if I kept it up, I would do my fastest 5k in a long time.  I really tried to talk myself into slowing down, but as usual, I got caught up in the fun of the race.

We came around and the finish line was behind me.  There were two ladies in front of me that I knew I could pass.  I knew that going full out at the end would not help my knee, but it felt great to just run as fast as I could.  As I came close to the end, I saw my friend from the gym call my name.  My knee hurt, but after stretching at home, it felt better.

I got my bottle of water and headed to see if I won any of the door prizes.  I did not win anything, but that was OK.  I love door prizes and it's just fun to see what could be won.  I realized at that point that we didn't get a medal.  I think their logo would make a super cute medal, but if that meant more money for the charities, I was OK with that.  I noticed that if I left at that time, I could make it to Costco as they opened, so I headed to my car.

I would defiantly do this race again, either the 5k or 10k.  Even though the courses were a bit different, it was very well organized.  Even when there were only a couple people around me, I never felt like I would get lost, or end up on the 10k course.  There were different colored arrows plus a ton of volunteers everywhere.  Plus there was a door prize with tons of options to put your tickets in.


I just looked at my official time, and shockingly, I was 3rd out of 4 in my age group.  I didn't see anywhere that said that they did age group awards, so it was OK that I didn't stay.  And I looked and one of the ladies I passed at the very end was in my age group, so the knee pain was totally worth it. :)

I haven't chosen my races for November or December yet.  But I have a couple in mind, so stay tuned.

What has been your favorite attraction at a race while you waited for it to start?  Do you like door prizes as much as I do?  Do you get swept up in a race and push it more than you should?

I’m linking up with with MCM Mama Runs, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and My No Guilt Life for the Tuesdays on the Run linkup.

Random Five (Friday Five Edition)

It's been quite awhile since I have posted.  It's been a very busy couple of weeks for me which included training all week last week, which meant catching up on everything this week.  So I thought I would post some random things that have been happening.

1 - Since about May I have had a sore throat on and off.  Never with a fever and never anything that was a big deal.  When I had my yearly physical last month, I mentioned it to her.  She wanted me to go see an ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) doctor.  Again, since I didn't think it was a huge deal it took me awhile to get around to make an appointment.  The funny thing about the practice she referred me to was I called and expected that it would be 3-4 weeks at a minimum to get an appointment, and they had one for the next day.  That never happens.  I saw one of the ENTs on Monday and he put an optical fiber endoscopy down my nose to look at the back of my throat.  It turns out that I have Adenoiditis.  It just means that my adenoids are infected and he gave me these HUGE antibiotic pills to take.  If it doesn't clear up, I'm to go back in a couple of weeks.

2 - Just these past few days, it is now starting to feel like fall.  I've never really like fall as this time of year is when I get most of my anxiety due to darker and colder days.  Even though it's the same 24 hours, because it's darker early, I feel like I have less time to get things done, which causes most of my anxiety.  Once I get used to it, the anxiety tends to alleviate for the most part.  But I am very thankful to have the few extra weeks this year.

3 - I only play the Mega Millions and Powerball when the jackpot gets really high like it is now.  I know I will never win, but I enjoy thinking of what I would do if I did.  Paying off my house and car and paying off any debts that my parents have and then traveling.  I've only won a dollar a couple of times, but I played the Mega Millions last Wednesday and I matched 3 numbers and won $10!  I know that's not a huge deal, but it was exciting for me.  And I'll be reinvesting that money into my dreams for tonight's drawing. :)

4 - I'm a bit embarrassed on how long I have owned my couch, but I've had it forever.  It is a loveseat that rocks and reclines.  I've had it forever because it's very comfortable and it fits perfectly in my awkwardly long and narrow living room.  I always sit on the right hand side because it's closest to the end table and the past month I have noticed that the cushioning (or lack of) on that side is probably causing me issues with my glutes (and therefore my knee).  So I have moved the couch around so that the end table is on the left side.  I have to say it is awkward.  I am right handed and it's weird to have everything on the left side.  But I either have to get used to it or go shopping for a new couch, which fills me with anxiety.  For big purchases that will be daily use, I have to know everything about every option and I have to analyze it all to make sure I am making the right choice.  I swear as the item for purchase gets bigger, the time I analyze it goes up 100 times.  It's ridiculous.  So for now we will see how this works.

5 - I never hum.  I never whistle (while I work).  I never sing.  But I noticed over the last few months that I have started humming.  It's so weird, I don't know why I all of the sudden started.  And the weirder part, it's always the same song.  Not only that, it's always the same Christmas song.  I might understand it some if I started it now, but it's been happening all summer long.  In June out of nowhere I'll realize that I'm humming a Christmas song.

And a bonus - I had to share this as it's probably one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen.  It was on a sunrise ride I did last weekend.

I'm hoping to get a few posts prepped, so when I do have a busy couple weeks, I'll still have something to post when I don't have time to sit down and write something out.  Till next time. :)

How have you been?  Anything random happen to you this week?

I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0