Raceday!

This past weekend was time for a new adventure for me. From past entries, you know that I have taken up running as a sport, and in general, just a fun thing to do. A mere three and a half weeks ago, I completed our local half marathon. Each year, this race is a prelude to the full marathon, which is typically run about three weeks later.

I know what you're thinking. A half marathon, and then, three weeks later, a full marathon! You must be crazy! I agree, that would be crazy. However, in addition to the full marathon, there is also a 5K race on the same day. It follows a little bit of the same course, and so I signed up to run the shorter race.

A 5K is a little over three miles in distance. So at 7:30 that brisk Saturday morning, I lined up with about 250 other runners. At 7:30AM sharp, we were off.

Now, three miles is not all that far if you've been running regularly, as I have. I managed to complete the race in 23:08. Yes, just over 23 minutes to cover a little more than three miles. It timed out to 7:27 per mile, or just a touch over 8 miles per hour. I feel really good about that.

On top of that, I also finished 7th overall in the race. Yes, it's my first ever top 10 finish! I managed to get back home less than an hour after the race had started, and Carrie was so happy for me, she took my picture!

Yes, perhaps the thing that stands out most is the lime shirt. That's actually the shirt from the half-marathon. But you should see the shirt for the 5K. It's really, really bright yellow. My tradition is that I will wear the shirt from the last race that I ran when I run the next race, so you can be assured that the next race will feature me in a really bright yellow shirt! After all, I run the races for the shirts.