My First Race - 5K, okay!

Max, Lucy and I ran in our first 5K race on Sunday, the Run, Forrest, Run Bubba Gump 5k. It was exhilarating! Here's how it went down:

The night before, I set out all my race clothes. 

(Two bras. Nike hasn't figured out a way to cease my jiggle with just one.)

(Flash! Reflective!)

Sign in started at 7a, race at 8:30a. The cool thing was that the race was in our neighborhood, so we didn't have to wake up too early on a Sunday. I woke up at 6:30a and hopped in the shower. I hadn't shaved my legs in a couple days, and if I was going to be seen in public in my running shorts I needed to get my gams looking good!

 After I got out of the shower, I got dressed and made Max and myself each a slice of dry wheat toast. Our nerves definitely got the better of our appetites! Max couldn't even finish his slice.

As Max, Lucy and I were walking to the race, I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. I had never been so excited to run in my life!

Ironically, signing in to the race was the easy part. We were all set by 7:15a. I forgot to take pictures of the race sign in booth, so use your imagination. It looked like a tent with a folding table under it. It was awesome.

The hard part about getting ready for the race was making Lucy do her 'business'.... yeah. Here's the thing about running with Lucy: she'll stick to my side or Max's side like a pro. She is great about weaving in and out of crowds. The one problem is she's basically a horse so if you don't make sure she goes #2 before the run, she will run and crap at the same time. The LAST thing we wanted was to be the people who let their dog crap on the route. Can you imagine?! Oy vey.

So Max and I walked Lucy around the block for 45 minutes damn waiting for that stubborn girl to go! I think she was aware that we were about to take part in something because normally her morning walks are about 15 minutes long. She never takes that long! It was kind of funny, looking back on it. Max and I wanted to go stretch and get warmed up, but the longer Lucy didn't go, the more frustrated we were getting. Finally, she did her dirty sinful business and we were able to get stretched and ready to go.

(Max and I just before the race started)

(I tried to get a nice picture of Max and Lucy before the race, but Pervy McHandsInHisPants ruined it!)

(Dude, you're so gonna become a meme...)

We lined up behind the starting line, listened to some woman I couldn't see sing the national anthem, and then a guy with a microphone yelled "Run, Forrest! Run!" and we were off. Ha! I can't believe they actually yelled that... but it was funny and it did make me feel like running!

I ran with Max for the first half, but he broke away and finished with Lucy ahead of me. It was freaking hot even though it was only 8:something AM. For the first time in my life, I ran so hard I thought I was going to puke. When I saw the finish line come in to view, and the countdown clock clicking towards 34:00, I tried to push myself. I really wanted to get in under 34:00... but I seriously thought I would hurl if I pushed myself any harder. So I came in at 34:08. Max finished at 31:00. 

As I crossed the line, I only had two thoughts: "Where's Max and Lucy?" and "Where can I collapse?" I answered both my questions pretty quickly and planted myself on the curb next to a STANDING Max. That boy is super human. Apparently, he could have finished even faster than 31:00, but Lucy was slowing down at the end. 

(After the race, doing his "Weekend at Bernie's" impression. Note how tired Lucy is!)

(That #1 symbolizes this being my first race, and that I am, in fact, #1. Lucy is still tired here..)

After I got past the whole "I might die" feeling, I was able to appreciate the thrill of it all. Max and I were feeling so awesome after the race. It's a feeling unlike anything else! I felt like an athlete! 

One thing we couldn't understand... after waking up early in the AM and running a race, participants were partaking in the free beer and shrimp pasta... I don't care how FREE it is, you couldn't have PAID me to drink beer and eat a cream sauce. Ugh. 

Instead, we went home and I made us our current favorite breakfast: whole grain blueberry pancakes, OJ, and coffee. Oh... and then we went online and signed up for another 5K next weekend! We're running the 5K Étouffée next Sunday. I'm gunning to break 33:00.  

I think Lucy was a little tired out from the race.... this happened for the next 12 hours: 

(Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)

 For dinner, we roasted some veggies and generally felt good about ourselves.

(Pre Roasting)

(Post Roasting)