Surrounded by 5k's

I can’t believe how busy I’ve been this weekend… Not that I mind, it’s just that the days have flown!

After work on Friday, I drove down to crash with my friend Nicole.  We went out for eats and drinks at Rebel and have decided Rebel has some of the best bar food in all of Wrigleyville.  Don’t believe me?  Try their buffalo chicken quesadilla.  Your mouth and stomach will thank you.  The Blackhawks had a disappointing loss and I went to bed.  Crazy night… I know.

Volunteering for Girls on the Run was fun.  They were short on help in some stands, so while also rocking out my talents as a tiara decorator, I found out I’m pretty much awesome at face painting.  Hearts, smiley faces, and rainbows… yep.  And I also found out some insider information from an eight-year-old that you’re hearing here first- the peace sign is way cool again.  Just letting you know.  I’ll have to track down my peace sign necklace from fifth grade.  With matching earrings.  I was baller…

Yesterday I made the final decision to just go ahead and do the 5k Run to Alexian Field in Schaumburg.  I watched the weather (because we got rained on at GOTR and I wasn’t really feeling a 2nd day of it) and last night decided I’d be doing the 7:00 race.  Ugh.  Mon wasn’t really feeling her plans to go to a bar to see some band play, so us and another friend from the apartment complex got together to watch Shutter Island.  Oh- you say Shutter Island’s not on dvd until Tuesday?  Ok then… well, we’re in the mood for a thriller, so what else is on?  Oh… Just Wolfman?  Well… it DOES have Benicio del Toro in it.  And Emily Blunt just rocks.  So how bad can it be?

Dude.  It was pretty bad.  In what world do they cast Anthony Hopkins and Benicio del Toro as father and son and think it will work?  I dunno…  I guess with a title like “Wolfman”, we should have known what we were getting outselves into.

Moving on…

I got up at 5:30 and was still second-guessing my decision to run this race.  I have no idea why.  I just was.  But I’m glad I did it.  The Schaumburg Park District put this race on, just like the Chilly Chili 5k.  And one of the organizers remembered me as “that girl on crutches from the last race”.  Sweet.  I just sorta laughed and said, “yeah, I’m back.”Apparently the race had more people sign up on race day than they anticipated.  Or I just didn’t get there fast enough for a real bib number.  So look what a lucky 20 or 30 of us got:This caused me sadness because I like to keep my bib numbers (which are currently on display in my kitchen).  And the race is smaller and not chip-timed.  So what did they do?  At the end, my number got ripped off of me as soon as I crossed the finish.  I felt almost abused.  And concerned if I was, in fact, legitimately part of this race. 

The race went well.  It was the smallest one I’ve done for sure.  So small that we even ran through a residential neighborhood.  On the road.  With cars coming.  Which sort of reminded me about how I was stuck in traffic after Girls on the Run yesterday and almost hit a man who ran through the traffic.  Yes, almost hit  him.  Like I was less than a foot away from a lawsuit.  He gave me a dirty look.  I flipped him off.  Because clearly, I was not the dumbass running through traffic. 

But I digress.

So the race and cars…  but it wasn’t bad.  I mean really, how many idiots are up at 7:00 in the morning on a Sunday in the burbs?  Only about 250- and we were all running that race.  I was nervous about pacing myself because I really didn’t know what pace to aim for during the race.  So I just found a comfortable pace, then I found a girl ahead of me, and just kept up with her.  We even switched places back and forth for the last mile.  But she killed me in the last stretch.  Kudos to her.  Although I was kind of bummed.  I had casually browsed last year’s results to see where I’d fit in.  It wasn’t an overly competitive race and I was really hoping for a shot at the top two.  A nifty plaque would have been swell.

I finished in 24:07- which was an average pace of about 7:46.  That put me in third in my age group.  Shucks.

Now, before you think I’m complaining, let me just say I am SO SO happy with my time.  Seriously- I had to think for a minute of who I could call that early in the morning to talk about it with.  Hey mom and dad…  ha ha.  It’s an entire minute faster than the last 5k I ran in April, although I really just wanted to break 25 minutes.  So this is awesome for me.  And I did a little happy dance in my head after I crossed the finish line.

So far, I’ve improved every race I’ve done.  I’m wondering if I’m coming close to my plateau yet?  I’m pretty sure this could be it.  But I’ll be damned if I don’t try to break 24 on my next one…  :p

A few guys came up to me after the race and congratulated me on my time- one said he had been trying to keep pace with me, but I lost him somewhere in the 2nd mile.  He also talked about a couple of the running groups he’s in and said I should consider joining them, especially if I’m in training for the half marathon (which I had mentioned).  I was really flattered.  I like how nice the running community in my area is (or actually in most races I’ve been in).  Lots of cool people that I can talk to about it.  Because I’m pretty sure the majority of my friends don’t know what a negative split is, or care to even hear me talk about running.  I shut up when their eyes glaze over.  So thanks for listening to my stories.    I appreciate it!  Also, I love my friends who have actually started to regularly read this as a way to keep up with me- love you guys! 

Enjoy your Sunday!  I did the race, but I’m about to go out and tackle another three miles.  I’ve had to move some stuff around, and this is supposed to be a long run day.  So far, I’ve just done three.  And I still feel pretty good.  So yeah… I’m chilling out a little more, and then pulling another three.  It’s sunny now, so remember if you happen to be out today- wear sunscreen.  Everybody’s free to wear sunscreen.    (Does anyone remember that crazy song?)

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