A Sweetheart of a Race

So, I ran the Valentine's 5K around Lake Harriet today. I haven't been running much and it shows, but I had a great time. I was pretty nervous about the weather, because earlier this week meteorologists predicted a high of 15 degrees for today. It wasn't nearly that cold; probably around mid-20s with some wind. I overdressed of course. Before the race I was shivering and wishing I had some wind mittens to wear over my gloves, but mid-way through the race I had my jacket, vest, and half-zip top unzipped. The neck gaiter was stifling, but I didn't want to stop to take it off. And my hands were too warm.

The race started at 10 a.m., which allowed for a leisurely morning. I got up, took a bath, dressed and ate a bowl of granola. Then I drove to the race about 8:30. On my way there I saw people running around Isles and I recognized them from my old running club. It wasn't hard to miss Rick--he's so tall and wears a bright orange hat. I waved to the group and Mary waved back, but I don't know if she recognized me. Just behind them was AmyBee , Angel and some others. I stopped and rolled my window down to wish them a good run. It was the first day of their summer marathon training, and it tugged at my heartstrings to see them.

I stopped at AmyBee's house and picked up an entry form to the Wells Fargo half-marathon, which she kindly copied for me. When I got to the race, I got my number and then picked up my sweatshirt. It's bright red! It's not as nice as the sweatshirt I got at the Marsh Turkey Trot, though.


I wandered through the "expo" and picked up a bottle of Propel. I've never had it before and it's pretty sweet. It was fine for this race, but I don't think I could run a marathon on that stuff. I also got a free water bottle. I figure you can't have too many of them. Then I went back to my car to drop off my loot and sat in it to warm up.

Heading back to the race start, I took some pictures with the CrapCam(TM) and used the Biffy. I so do not want to drop my drawers in freezing weather, but there was no other option. I ran a little to warm up, then headed for the start. I thought I was at the end, but then more people lined up and I wound up in the middle. That is definitely not where I belong, so I got out of line and moved back.

I was wearing my Garmin and started it as I crossed the starting line. I looked to see if there was anybody I knew, but there wasn't. Oh well, I just talked to people along the way. Some people were running along the bike path, but the real course was in the street, and there were hills. Well, hilly for the prairie. I attacked them with gusto, at least the first two. I wasn't expecting the third, but ran up it anyway.

By the halfway point, all the hills were behind me. I ran the whole time, didn't take any walking breaks. I wanted to see what I could do. There was a woman who had passed me twice, after having to stop two different times to tie her shoelaces, and she was just ahead of me. I tried to match her pace, but couldn't. Then I reminded myself to run my own race.

As I was almost to mile 3, there was another effing hill, albeit small. I was tired, but pressed on. Then as I could see the finish line, I kicked it up a notch. As I passed this one woman, she called out my name. It was Katy, from my running club! We trained together for the Twin Cities Marathon and I haven't seen her since. I slowed down to run in with her, but she told me to finish strong and she'd see me at the end. I sprinted to the finish line, just behind the woman with the untied shoelaces.

As Katy and I were talking near the finish line, we saw Coach Sarah. She was our summer marathon training coach last year. Even though we weren't running a summer marathon, we trained with them, since there wasn't a half-M training option. Sarah is again coaching the summer marathon group, which began today, but she said she didn't run with them since she was racing. Coach Sarah complimented my running style. She had noticed my Club Run jacket when I was running in and wondered if that was me, but didn't recognize me without my gimpy gait (I have scoliosis, so list to the side and look like I'm limping when I run). I still have the gimpy gait, but maybe it's not as pronounced when I'm running fast.

We said goodbye and then as I headed to my car I realized that I should have taken pictures of Katy and Sarah. I totally forgot that I had the CrapCam(TM) with me. I saw some people taking pictures and asked someone if he would take my picture. I told him I need proof for my blog that I ran this race. :-)

According to Le Garmin-- Time: 37:15, Distance: 3.18.

I ran this same race last year -- Time: 42:16, Distance 3.17