Valley of the Lilies

If you would have asked me four months ago if I wanted to partake in a 5K, I probably would have laughed in your face. That was four months ago. Since then things have changed quite a bit. I've been running every week, at least twice a week. I try and run five times a week, but lets be serious, sometimes that doesn't happen when you work two jobs and go to school full time. Nevertheless, when I started running I could barely run a whole .5 miles straight. But as with most things, the more you practice at it, the better you become.

Last weekend, my buddy Matt and I, had entered the Valley of the Lilies Half Marathon/5K. The plan was for Matt and I to both do the 5K, but he decided he wanted to be an overachiever and run the 13.1 miles in the half marathon. That's cool, if you're in to over exerting your body and stuff, whatever.

The half marathon runners started 15 minutes before the 5K-ers, their course was our course, doubled, and then added another long loop around town. I felt that I did pretty well for my first 5K. I finished 57th our of 103 in 34.1 minutes. However, as I was SLOWLY going up one of the hills on my course, this guy comes booking it past me making me feel worthless. Come to find out, he was a half marathoner and finished his race in one hour and 15 minutes averaging a 5.7 minute mile. CRAZY! Matt did pretty well also. He finished 48 out of 200 in 1 hour and 48 minutes.

Early morning excitement

Crossing the finishing line

After race excitement

Funny/Ironic little side story: On the way to pick up our packets Friday afternoon before the race, I was walking through grass with sandals on and must have stepped on a bee or something. Check out the gnarly after effects on the the bottom of my foot. As much as I'd like to contribute this to my slower pace, I can't say that it affected my running in anyway on race day. It did itch like crazy for a few days.