After a week in San Diego at skirt headquarters and follow up to the tough Iron Girl 5k race, we decided to strap on our pumps (in hind sight they should have had straps), and line up at the Magic Shoe 5k & High Heel dash in Newport Beach. This is a very well organized event run by coach Bill Sumner of Corona Del Mar Track & Cross Country teams. There is a 5k event as well as a 100 meter "high heel dash". Luckily the 5k was the first event in the lineup.
A few days before the 5k race in Newport Beach, we hit up Nordies for the perfect pair of pumps. How does one pick out high heels for a race?
Hmmmm - we decided it was go big or go home, and went with the hot pink 4" stiletto numbers below.
Here's a shot of Cindy test-driving the pink stilettos - note the ladies reaction in the background.
The Running Skirts booth was rockin at the Corona Del Mar track on race morning! We barely had time for more than a 2 lap warm up on the track before we headed to the start line. After the somewhat disappointing / challenging 5k the week before in Del Mar, we were convinced to get PRs today.
I realized that I left my garmin behind at the house that morning and decided to just run on feel and hopefully catch the splits from a neighboring racer. There is definitely something to be said for racing without your garmin, I find that I always run better times without it. I think that not having the garmin on allows you to get out of your comfort zone and run on feel vs actual watch time. No garmin, means no distraction and time wasted on looking at your wrist when you should be focusing on maintaining good running form and running. That was my theory for Magic Shoe 5k and I was going with it.
I like to say the best thing about running a 5k race is that they are over quickly. Every time I race a 5k, I say "never again" until I cross the finish line and say whew - glad that's over....that was fun....I can run faster next time....let's do another 5k soon! (Isn't every race like that?) I normally like to get in a good warmup before 5k races along with some stretching and strides. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time for such a warm up today, and went straight from the skirt booth around the track and out to the start line. I tried to maintain what I thought was a good steady pace (remember - no garmin) and pass any female within range. The last 1k was utterly excruciating and I reminded myself to stay relaxed and that the end was near. I was thrilled to see the clock time as I entered the track for the last 200 meters of the race. I finished in a new personal best 18:08 time (woohoo) shaving 29 seconds off my last 5k from 2 weeks ago. Christy also finished strong just over 20 minutes - a big pr for her also. We ended up 7th and 20th women, and 2nd and 3rd place a/g in a very fast field of runners (one of which was uber-fast mother of 6 kids- Ceci St. Geme - I am quite proud of the fact that I finished 12 seconds ahead of her...! Ceci has always been an inspiration to me over the years of following her running career in addition to super mom to 6 (yes that's not a type) children - she's 46 and still running fast as ever! I account this big PR to not wearing my garmin and trying to keep up and stay in front of Ceci.
After the event we had a chance to chat with Ceci and I reminded her of a race I saw her win up in Sacramento 5-6 years previously....she literally signed up for the race that morning since she happened to be in town and then proceeded to blow away the field! It wasn't just a win....she was literally minutes ahead of the whole race pack in that 5k. I felt honored to "skirt" Ceci with a cheetah pink running skirt - I can't think of a more appropriate model for our "fast cat" print running skirt. Thanks for the inspiration Ceci - keep it up!
. (read more about this amazing super mom runner Ceci in this Runners World article here)
After the 5k event we slipped out of our racing flats and into our racing stilettos?! Here's a pre-high heel dash shot!
The high heel dash was hilarious. Unfortunately, Christy and I both sprinted right out of our heels (in hindsight or for future reference.....-pumps with straps are key for high heel dases). The girl who won was wearing platform sneakers (cheater! haha)
Check out the bling bling red stiletto trophy
.....you're going down next year sneaker pump girl!
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