I really like races (maybe that’s obvious by now). I have to show up (usually early in the morning, which suits me) and run a set distance. I like the adrenaline boost. I like the t’shirts. I like the long-term goal. And on and on. Luckily Matt likes them too and we enjoy running them together.
This was another race weekend. We ran a 5K sponsored by our local recreation district for Father’s Day. Happily, they included jogging strollers in the mix. I was a bit nervous during packet pickup … everything was a bit unorganized and I got accosted by a crazy old lady who thought I was grabbing more than our fair share of swag water bottles (I wasn’t). The start was also a bit weird since we were shoved to the back with the walkers since we had a stroller and the old lady who was holding the sign for our wave kept yelling at us not to go even when it was apparent we should be going. But once we finally got going (and got around a ton of walkers), it was a really nice route, mostly flat. It was just pretty neighborhoods and ended up on a trail to complete a loop. I felt good and ran the entire time (not like it was long) and then really put on the turbo at the end.
My “chip time” was 34.28, which was the same was my “clock time” since they didn’t have a starting pad for the chips. My watch read just under 33 minutes right as I crossed the finish line and I was pretty darn happy with that … I would love to run a sub 30 5K (yes, lame and pathetic and slow, I KNOW) this year.
The low key nature of the race was perfect for the day and we were able to finish, grab a water and walk about 30 feet to our car, get in and drive off without any traffic and go get bagels. It was a perfect start to the day!
P.S. Sorry for the crappy photo quality … my camera phone is only so-so in the best of circumstances, let alone egregiously back-lit. Ugh.
Glad it was such a nice Father's Day!