Fits Do Race Reviews: The Wedding Day 5k

This past Saturday was the wedding of our former running club coach Paul and another good running club friend Laura (So many love stories begin in the Calhoun Beach Running Club  - join today! hehe)

I plan to share more pictures from this beautiful wedding in a "Fits on the Road: Sioux Falls" post later this week, but first I want to share with you the awesomeness that was the  Wedding Day 5k!

Paul was the mastermind behind the Memorial Day Pub Run 5k, so it was no surprise that his  Wedding Day 5k was also exceptionally well-executed. He does not mess around with race planning.

The bride-to-be wore a veil paired with the Sweaty Band I gave her at her bachelorette party. So cute! 

Back to the race... It started with online registration for the low, low price of $8.23 (i.e. the wedding date 8/23!) The race fee went towards the cost of the shirts I believe, but who can argue with $8.23 for registration?? Definitely a price that fits the bill!

There was an official website HERE (<--of course there was!) with course information and more.

Course Information from the website:

The Wedding Day 5k features a flat, fast course that runs on the banks of the Big Sioux River. Along the way, participants will see the river, be tempted by an Olive Garden, probably see some geese, and enjoy the fine engineering marvels that are the 41st and 49th street bridges.

The Wedding Day 5k race committee reserves the right to change the course on a whim if deemed necessary due to trail or road construction, getting a bad feeling about this, or other reasons that we make up.

Official Course Map:

The race started promptly at 7 am right behind the Sioux Falls Clubhouse Hotel & Suites (where most of the wedding guests were staying for the wedding). It was extremely convenient to just wake up and walk out the back door of the hotel to the start line. The hotel was located right by the Big Sioux River trail.

Packet Pickup:

Packet pickup was held on Friday in the late afternoon and again later that night (after the rehearsal dinner of course). The gear bags included pens, pads of paper, course maps, and our official race t-shirts. Packet up was extremely easy- no line!

Race morning:

We woke up to overcast skies but temperatures in the 80's with high humidity. 

Like I mentioned in my weekly recap earlier this week, we were up kind of late on Friday and had a lot of pizza and beer at "A Taste of the Big Apple." It was hard to get up and get moving for the race, but I did get in a very short warmup.

At Taste of the Big Apple on Friday night before the 5k

Then, promptly at 7 am, we were off! 

The miles were clearly and accurately marked (picture below courtesy of Meggan at The Yoga Garage)

There was someone calling out mile splits at mile 1 (i.e. the groom's mom!) and then there was someone calling out your time at the finish line.

Even better, we received "official" results emails within an hour of finishing. And we could tweet or post our results to Facebook with a quick click of a button!

As you can see, I didn't run a PR at the Wedding Day 5k (my PR is 22:46). I wouldn't recommend lots of pizza and beer the night before a 5k. But let's be honest, the Wedding Day 5k wasn't about racing- it was about starting off this special day with running. Running was what brought Laura and Paul together, so it was only appropriate that all of their running friends celebrated by running on their wedding day. Nearly 50 people finished the 5k that morning, with more than that doing a shorter walking option. So fun!

Even though I ran slow (for me), Dustin and I still won a trophy for fastest combined time for a married couple. #proud

Great job to the race directors and planning committee. By far, the best Wedding Day 5k that I have ever done!

Weekly Recap: A Wedding 5k and Running in the Humidity.

It's Sunday, so it is time for the Weekly Recap at the Right Fits!

Let's start with fitness...

What's happening in fitness this week?
Last week, my recap included a lot of running but not a lot of cross training. This week was a little more balanced.
Monday: 1 hour long barre class at The Barre in the morning and then 7 mile run with the Calhoun Beach Running Club. I had a 20 minute tempo run in the middle of this run. My legs felt pretty tired, and I struggled to keep an 8 min/mile pace (my tempos should be closer to a 7:35-7:45).
Tuesday: 5.5 mile run with Matilda, slow recovery run
Wednesday: 1 hour strength conditioning class for runners at the Calhoun Beach Club
Thursday: 5 mile run as part of the Jeff Galloway event at Run n Fun <-- I'll share more on this later!
Friday: 16 mile long run. I started at 6 am with my friends Abby and Meggan, so you'd think we were up early enough to beat the heat. Spoiler alert..we weren't. It was a brutally sticky run and not one of my best long runs. Due to schedule constraints for the other girls (who started even earlier than me) I was on my own for the last 3 miles. My paced dropped significantly in those last three miles and I was doing more of a run/walk. I just don't do well in the heat. We ran a route that had plenty of water stops and I carried fluids in my Nathan hydration belt, but the humidity still really got to me. Additionally, my sweaty shoes were soaked through, which started to cause a lot of blisters. I'm not saying I'm ready for cold temperatures- I'm not. But I am admitting that running in the humidity is definitely a challenge.
Saturday: Wedding Day 5k <-- race recap to come! Our old run club coach Paul married his lovely wife Laura yesterday and he planned a really great Wedding Day 5k to kick off their special day with a run. The race started at 7 am because the bride and her bridesmaids needed to get going with hair and make up and whatnot. To be honest, we were up a little later than normal on Friday imbibing a bit with all the wedding guests. That 6:30 am wake up call came pretty early. I tried to do a little bit of a warm-up before we started, but really I was going from sleeping to a harder tempo-esque effort a little too quickly. However, due to Dustin's speediness, we still won the fastest combined time for a married couple!

Sunday: Most of today was spent in a car driving home from Sioux Falls. When we arrived back in Minneapolis, I figured I would either take a nap or go for a run. I went with the run option, hoping to detox some of that wine I drank over the wedding weekend.  Of course, this run was at the hottest part of the day. It was a slow and sweaty four mile run, but it did make me feel better.

Total: 6 days of running with one tempo workout and one 5k race, one strength class, and one barre class

What's happening in fitness fashion?
The Wedding Day 5k had official race shirts. They are cozy gray t-shirts that I know I will wear to lounge around the house. Someone commented that it seemed that a lot of races are moving away from technical tees and towards cozy old-school quality cotton tees. The Torchlight 5k was that way, as well as the Brian Kraft 5k...and now the Wedding Day 5k!  I like this movement in races. I have way too many technical race shirts that I never wear again, usually because they don't fit that well. It seems that more men continue to wear their old race shirts (I know that Dustin does), but not as many ladies like the ill-fitting race shirts. Keeping the cozy cotton tees coming please race directors!

What's happening in fashion?
The wedding this weekend in Sioux Falls, South Dakota was so gorgeous. The reception was held at Calico Skies winery across the border in Iowa and it was such a beautiful location for a reception. The wine and food were so good, and I couldn't get over all the beautiful touches for the wedding<-- more pictures to come! As for fashion at this wedding, I wore the Azure Scroll Dress from Anthropologie that I mentioned in this post. I usually have a really good luck at Anthropologie for cocktail dresses, and this dress is one that I feel I will wear plenty of times in the future. The color and pattern is bright and fun, but the simple shift style keeps it classic. The necklace is also from anthropologie.

That's all from the Right Fits this week...

What are your tips for staying cool on hot and humid runs?
Have you been to Calico Skies winery?