Sunday, December 15, 2013

Joy of Giving 5K ... aka Slush Fest 2013

So I've come to a couple conclusions...

1. Sometimes it's fun to just run a race for fun and just forget about your time
2. If you can get your butt out of bed in the morning the hard part is over
3. I need new running shoes

Saturday was the last race in the Indiana Crossroads Racing Series. I didn't have to run. I already had my 10 races in and I knew I was going to finish third in the 40-44 age group overall whether I ran the race of my life or didn't run at all.

Still, the race was before the awards banquet and I wanted to see what kind of shape I was in. Well, Saturday morning dawned 30 degrees and snowing - wet slushy snow. I was really tempted to sleep in a couple more hours and just show up at the banquet but I had already driven to Columbus the night before (after getting off work at 11 pm) so I showed up at 7:30 am to register for the race.

Half a mile into the race, my feet were already soaking wet and I couldn't feel my toes anymore. We were running on a paved trail and I was sliding around with every step I took. There was slush flying everywhere. I decided then and there that I just wanted to finish the race upright and uninjured. I got passed by a bunch of people I usually beat but I didn't care. I just wanted to stay upright and get to the finish so I could rip off my shoes and socks and warm up my feet!

So here are my splits - slowest of the year...

Mile 1 - 8:34
Mile 2 - 8:56
Mile 3 - 8:47
last 0.1 - 0:46

Official time - 27:03
pace - 8:42

Here are the bottom of my shoes...


I realized I had no tread left on parts of my shoe! I guess it's time to get new shoes. I'm really bad about buying new shoes.

I also neglected to pack any dry clothes to change into after the race. I ended up putting the clogs and socks I had worn to work the day before on and taking off my top thermal shirt and throwing on a sweatshirt but I had no warm up pants so I ended up sitting around in my soaking running tights, basically freezing my ass off.

So now to the banquet. First they announced the awards for today's race. Since I moved up an age group this month to the 45-49 category, I won the age group no problem (I would have been third in the 40-44 age group today behind the usual #1 and #2 runners - everybody was here today.) I won a $10 Blue Mile gift certificate and medal for that.

Next was the age group awards for the year. These awards are based on your age group on June 30th. The woman that would have won my age group actually ended up placing third overall for all the women so everyone in my age group actually moved up a place and I ended up second. I got another $10 Blue Mile gift certificate and trophy for that.


After the awards, they had door prize drawings for all the runners that had finished the series. Several local businesses provided the prizes which ranged from carpet cleaning to hotel nights to massages  with the "big" prizes being two $300 VISA gift cards and a $400 VISA gift card. Crossroads also gave everyone a $15 Road ID gift card.

Guess what!!


I GOT DRAWN FOR THE $400 VISA GIFT CARD!!!
 
 
 
So here's all my loot for the day...
 
 
Definitely worth getting out of bed for! I'm getting new running shoes.
 
Week 1 of my new training cycle starts now!




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