Races!

I have done a couple of 5K races, bracketing the weekend on the Pride.  I'm happy with what I did in each of them - they were fun!  I'm into it for the party, and to give myself a goal. There is no doubt without a goal I'm far more likely to bail out on a training run, with no specific accountability tied to each time I have to decide whether to get out there, or stay inside and drink more coffee.

Of note, generally I actually like running while actually doing it.(As opposed to liking how I feel afterwards.)  I have bad knees, a bad back, allergies, sinus headaches, miscellaneous aches and pains, and I want to just give myself a pass.  Often, often, the first five minutes feel bad, and then, gradually, the aches and pains lessen rather than grow, I warm up and get looser, and want to keep going.  This happens over and over, and yet knowing that doesn't necessarily make it easier to get over the hump of getting out there and starting.

The first October 5K was the Historic Congressional Cemetery's annual Dead Man's Run.  I have signed up for this event twice before, and NOT run it for a variety of reasons. This year, I was determined to actually run!

Before the race

It is a fun event, with people in costumes both running and cheering, and music at the start. It's also mostly flat, which is really nice.  Also, I could listen to music while running through my ipod - some events do not allow headphones, to increase situational awareness on the track.

At the starting line

This is a fun family event. Notably, it's the only one I've done in the evening, rather than very early in the morning.

The cemetery is on a bluff over the Anacostia river,
and the run goes out along the trail.

After the finish - happy Nan!

Also, I was very happy with my finish time:  38:15. Yes, some folks pushing strollers with children in them were faster than me.  But I had fun! And staying to listen to the age-cadre results, I finished faster than the top finisher in her seventies - something I failed to do in Annapolis!

Happy Runners!

The second 5K was in Baltimore. They have a "Running Festival", with a marathon, half-marathon, and 5K. My first HUGE event - overall, there are tens of thousands of runners, with more than 4,000 in the 5K alone. Because there was a chance for a conflict with the Baltimore Orioles in the American League play-offs, the start time for every event was moved earlier by an hour. I had to be in Baltimore, nearly an hour's drive away, by 6:30 am!  A friend came to my succor and offered her driveway and house, just a block from the start line, as my place to be.  The real benefit was the access to the house (she was gone for the weekend) and her bathroom - as there were inadequate noisome porta-potties.  Since I had buckets of coffee getting ready, this was huge!

Huge numbers of people in the very early morning

At the start

I also did this one with the friend I ran in Annapolis with. She's about five years older than me, and also brand-new to this as a sport. Her daughter is a marathoner, and also ran the 5K with friends as a training run for an upcoming marathon. I liked the crowds, the noise, and fun party at the end.

It's still early

Nearing the end

They had a QR-scan code on the running bibs
you could scan on your phone to get the official results