Race #8

One more state checked off the map! I ran the Navy Federal Credit Union 5K in Vienna, Virginia Saturday. I debuted the new shirt and got a few good comments about the "Dead freakin' last.........." saying on the back.

I want to thank my friend Rachel D. for being my travelling companion for this race - she's the one on the left:She had never been to a race before so the experience was all new. She got lucky as the Navy Federal Credit Union 5K was a great race. The venue was great, the volunteer effort was phenomenal and the participants were a great bunch of people.

The night before the race Rachel and I went out to dinner at Da Deminico a local Italian restaurant, I recommend it highly. I had the tutti de mare and must say it was fantastic. The sauce was just spicy enough but not overpowering. Upon our return we got in the elevator with two guys and a girl and I heard them talking about a race they were running the next day. I kept my mouth shut, for once, as I just sensed these guys weren't going out to run a 5K. As we went up one by one they got off the elevator until we were alone with one small wiry guy with curly dark hair. He mentioned to Rachel and me that he was going to be running in a 50 mile race the next day. I immediately piped up that well I was going to be running in a 5K the next day!! He gave me a grin, a big high-five and wished me luck. I then explained to Rachel that these guys were the real runners and truly crazy! He liked the description!

Race day dawned too soon. I had a completely restless night, I know that I looked at the clock every hour. What was doubly frustrating was that the bed was unbelievably comfortable and the linens superb. Left the hotel with temps in the low 60's, clear skies and no rain. We got to the course with plenty of time to sign in and scope out the competition.

I didn't have my watch with me and I think I might have done better because of that. I really tried to just focus on having a good time. The course was rather flat, the uphills were all at a rather gradual slope. I waved at anyone who was standing along the route to cheer us on (not many), thanked all the course marshals and policemen who stopped traffic, and got a good laugh out of the young girls cheering toward the end when I requested high fives from them as I ran by! Yes, I've become the queen of self promotion!

My time ended up at 34:16 and I really had a great time running! The one time I did start to sag, I thought about the curly haired guy in the elevator who had been running for a couple hours already and still had hours to go before he finished his 50 miles. 34 minutes was hardly a warm up for him! I spent most of the race running with this tall girl in a pink top. I stayed with her up until the last half mile when she got an extra kick and I didn't. I found her after the race and thanked her for helping motivate me to run the entire time and not walk.

At the finish line and still smiling!!

Not sure exactly what this is, we think it's a mouse!

I got a call from my brother Craig on Sunday wondering why I hadn't called him before and after the race as I've done previously - oops, my bad! He agreed that I needed to shake up my training a bit if I ever hoped to get my time faster. I'm going to do some speed work and also start building up to five or six mile runs instead of calling it quits at 3.1 miles!

Next race - Hartford, Connecticut