The Kiwanis Independence Day 5K

I was all smiles at the start of the race, posing with my friends in our Team Sparkle skirts!

Wow - is my stomach WHITE! And, yes, I'm sucking it in big time because, alas, I haven't done any situps in quite some time, although my coach recommends it!

4th of July Race Report by Leah Ann Connor

When I saw the temperature was 79 (feels like 81) at 5:54 AM on race day I had a feeling I wasn't going to improve my course PR set last year (23:03).

I knew this race would be graded on a curve, so I decided on of a plan B goal of sub 24. Well I did it!

I'm pretty obsessive-compulsive when it comes to shorter races and usually set my garmin to record .25 mile splits. 

I decided to compare this year versus last year. 

I finished the 1st mile at almost the same time (7:13). 

Mile 2, I started to slow by 18 secs (14:55 vs.14:37) and by mile 3 I behind by 35 seconds behind. 

Last year I was inspired to sprint to the finish, but this year I knew there was no one in my age group anywhere near me so I just jogged it in at an astonishly slow 8:06 pace.

Last year my 23:03 time earned me an age group win. 

This year my 23:48 got my 4th place in my age group and 17th female overall. 

I guess it really is all about who shows up on race day!

After a 2 mile cool down, I drove over to Starbucks for a perfect recovery drink - White Chocolate Mocha Frappachino Light. Mmmmmm.

My next race is the Waynesboro Summer Extravaganza 10K on Saturday at 8am. 

I have a feeling I'm not going to beat last year's time of 47:49 (7:42 pace) which earned my 2nd place in the 40-49 age group. 

Let's just hope no one faster than me shows up so maybe I can stil place in the top 3 of my age group. :)