Riverwalk 5K

 So after the Half Marathon in Sarasota, I was looking forward to a nice short race for my 10^th  race of 2013,  that I could just run and not feel like death an hour in. My friend and I had signed up for the Riverwalk 5K for the second year in a row. Last year we did this race and there was a LOT  of swag. Actually, I think this might have been the first race that we did that we actually got stuff…like lots of goodies and stuff…so of course, we decided to do it again.
I really wanted to push myself in this race; you know…get a good time, new PR and see how fast I could really go, especially after the iRun 5K time. So I ended up switching from the 5 mile run to the 5K. My friend still did the 5 mile run. 

However, the stupid shoes that I had bought when I was in Sarasota had given me stupid shin splints and I still had them on Race Day! Boy was I pissed off! I was hobbling around and was not expecting to get a good time at all. I probably shouldn’t have run at all, but anyone that knows me knows that wasn’t going to happen, shin splints or not.
I dragged my crippled ass around that damn course cursing god and all his angels with every step that I took and figuring I had come in LAST place when I crossed the finish line with a time of 23:47 (a pace of 7:40 min miles) I was pleasantly surprised that I still managed to pull come in 2^nd place in my age group! If I had been up to speed…I would have totally came in first place and had about a minute to spare! But I was happy with what I got, considering how much pain I was in.

Whoohoo for coming in 2^nd place, but instead of a medal or something I got this hideous print of a painting. And not just any painting, the painting that they had put on the shirt! You could see the look on people’s faces as they went up to collect their “prize”! I am pretty sure that it is not hanging up in many of the winners homes; I have no idea what I am going to do with mine. Maybe give it to someone or something! Who knows! 

 And my girl! Totally crushed the 5 mile run, she did amazingly well and came in 4^th place.  

What we were disappointed in the swag afterwards as well, we didn’t get many goodies at all. Nothing like last year, which kinda suxed. That is OK, we both had a blast and we will do it again next year I am sure. 

Our next race is next week. We are going to be doing an obstacle race. It should be a lot of fun and very challenging! Suppose to be like 20 obstacles and like 5 miles! The Challenge Mud run, we even have a team! TEAM VENTURE! There are about 5 or 6 of us doing it so I am looking forward to it. Maybe we should all do matching outfits or something. :)