Last Race of the Year!

Happy New Year! I write my last blog entry of 2010 at like 10:22pm! Ha! I had to write about the Great New Year's Eve Race 5K run that I did today. When I registered for this race about a month ago, I was picturing a chilly and snowy run that would be quite different from what I'm used to as I've not been running outside since the end of October. However, it was about 53 degrees today which was kind of a nice surprise! To be perfectly honest, one of the reasons I signed up was because my friend mentioned that the giveaway was a blanket at this race! Very cool.

I was really nervous/excited for this race earlier today. I'm used to running races in the mornings and I definitely like that better. You get up, and don't have lots of time to think about - just do it! Not to mention the fact that I'm a morning person anyways. Well, today's race wasn't until 4pm so there was like a whole day first and lots of time to think about it. The other reason I had some trepidation today was because my last 5K at the end of October is when I injured my Achilles tendon so I think I was worried about that too.

I was relieved to see my friend there who also agreed to run with me even though he is normally a lot faster. It was fun - good weather and fun to get caught up with my friend. The run was pretty tough - a couple good hills and I just am not used to hills these days!! My time was probably one of the lowest I've had - 32:35, I think. But, I did it and it felt good! There were TONS of people there! Steven mentioned that it was the biggest turnout that he had seen for this race and I'm sure that the weather was a big reason for that. I love running with a huge group like that. It motivates you to go faster! There were a number of people with dogs and lots of families running together which was neat to see.

Overall it was a great experience and I'm happy to report that my ankle feels great, thanks to my warm up run and stretching that I made sure to add before the race. Now I can chalk up a race for Dec and perhaps stretch it to January if I decide to tackle my "one race per month challenge in 2011!"

P.S. Oh, in addition to not being icy and snowy, we also did NOT receive a blanket as a giveaway this year, but a headband warmer thing and fleece gloves instead. That's okay - maybe next year!