When Oprah said running was a lot like life, she wasn’t lying. Needless to say life handed me lemons in the form of a very hilly, windy and cold Thanksgiving Day race and I was able to make lemon flavored Gatorade. Ok, that was a bad joke Seriously, I was a little caught off guard by the hilly course, but I suppose I needed a good glute, hamstring and calf workout.
Here are the highlights from the race:
1. 58:19.51 – My goal was to run the race in under an hour, and I met that goal with a minute and forty seconds to spare!
2. Other BGRs – During races and group runs it’s easier for me to keep my pace if I can stare at the feet of someone in front of me. In this case it was a fellow BGR who ended up being an excellent pace setter. It also helped that she was listening to a hot Beyonce remix. I ended up taking off my headphones and singing along to “Diva.”
3. Mother-daughter Time – It was nice to have my mom at the race cheering me on. Although she left my sweatshirt and dry tee in the car. The best part was that as we were leaving she turns to me and says, “This racing isn’t too bad. I can do this.” So, next Thanksgiving she will be walking in the 5k!
4. Boom Baby, Boom – The last hill was at least a quarter of a mile long. Luckily, I found myself running next to a guy pushing his toddler is a stroller. Halfway through the hill the daddy hits a pot hole and yells, “boom baby, boom.” This was followed by shrieks of laughter and the baby repeating, “Boom baby, boom!” …absolutely adorable. The daddy runner continued hitting pot holes and the toddler squealed and repeated the father. Thanks daddy runner, you and the baby distracted the entire group as we climbed the last hill.
5. Lexi – Toni and I have met several really cool BGRs through twitter. But, this was my first time actually meeting one in person, let alone running in a race with them. So, congrats to Lexi and her boyfriend, Gary, on running a 1:05, and check out her blog, Busy Little Lexi.