Zulu 5K Run To Ride

(Max before the race!)

This Saturday, Max and I woke up at 6:30am, hopped on our bikes and rode to Zulu Headquarters for the Zulu Run to Ride 5K.  Yes, we are hardcore.

This race was the smallest one we've participated in yet. The crowd was about 1/3 what it was at Run, Forrest, Run 5K and about 1/2 what it was at Étouffée 5K two weekends ago.



The bike ride was really nice, and it was a great way to warm up our legs before the race. We'll definitely be doing that again when we run the Fat Boy 5K in two Sundays in City Park.

There was a rainbow-themed slip 'n' slide set up for the kids. I was tempted to go for it, but I didn't want to be wet before the race, and after the race I was pooped! Here's how the race went for me:

The race route was great for the first 1/2. Max took off from the starting line immediately and I only saw him again when he passed me at the turn around point. The race went along this channel that goes along the bottom edge of City Park. I  think it's called Bayou St. John or something? It was really pretty!

The problem was that by the second part of the race, the SUN was out in full force... my mile times went like this:

mile 1 (not too hot): 9:59/mile "I'm feeling good!"
mile 2 (sort of hot): 10:02/mile "I'm gonna finish in 31 minutes!"
mile 2.25 (hellishly hot): 10:17/mile "What happened? I want to die!"

The Zulu race was full of characters- as expected. There were lots of people in grass skirts and coconut bra tops (worn over their regular running gear). There were also a few familiar faces in the crowd! No, not NOLA buddies- just people we recognized from previous 5Ks.

Max crossed the finish line at 27:20, which is pretty freaking amazing.

We don't have a finish line picture of Max because he finished before me, so who could take a pic? (We need a spectator friend! Taking applications now, NOLA buddies!) Here he is after the race. The amazing thing about pic is that Max was really, really wiped afte the run. He really threw all of himself in to beating his PR, which he did. He was really, really exhausted and weakened by the run- and yet look at him! In this picture he's smiling!

(Best finishing photo ever! Thx Max!)

This isn't to say I wasn't totally wiped out from the race myself. As I said above, the heat took it's toll on me. I could see the finish line ahead of me, and I could see the clock ticking away... 31:40, 31:45, 31:48.... my goal of finishing in the 31st minute was so close. I was 100 feet from the finish line, but I couldn't go any faster without fear of puking/fainting/both, so I had to stay even-tempoed and ended up finishing with a time of 32:02.

(Max, put the camera down and take this from me!)

As soon as I crossed the line, I collapsed in to Max's arms. :-) He escorted me to a spot in a gas station where I could sit down. I was hot, tired, sun stroked, and so freaking happy, as seen in this picture here:

We went back to Zulu headquarters. I recovered pretty quickly, but Max was really feeling crappy because he was running an 8.7 min mile, which is a lot harder on the body than a 10:17 min mile, so I fetched him many Gatorades while I ate a free fudgesicle.  We still don't understand how people can finish a race at 9am and then start drinking free beer, but once again everyone seemed more than willing to drink up. We waited until Max and I felt steady again and then rode our bikes home.



We showered, and then I made us our favorite meal. Blueberry pancakes!!!!!!!!!!

We've ordered compression socks which are supposed to make us and our recover times faster... stay tuned for our results from the Fat Boy 5k this Sunday, 5/27, so see how they affect our times.

Peace out, runners!