St. Paddy's Day 8K and a Trophy!!!

Went to bed last night with a stuffed up head and a nose that was red from excessive blowing. Needless to say I didn't wake up feeling 100% today. Oh yea, and the Oklahoma weather Gods thought it would be great to drop the temperature to 45 and push the wind around at about 25 miles/hour. It was freaking COLD! AGAIN!

Me looking stupid in the cold, cool trophy though

I sat in my car for as long as I could before the race because, as you can see, I decided to wear shorts. When I did get out and began to warm up (Hah!) my leg reminded me that it was hurt, cold and basically pissed off that I had drug it out of bed on a morning like this. I begged and pleaded with it to just let me get through this race and I would give it a nice warm massage and shower after. It agreed and stopped yelling after a few short runs. I lined up beside my hero of running which is nice because she is usually way up front and I don't get to see her much. Her boyfriend asked me what I was hoping to run today and I responded "5 miles, that's what I'm hoping to run, nothing more, nothing less". He was looking for a time but given my sad state of health I didn't dare project a time. I just wanted that damn gun to go off because I was cold and needed to get running in order to warm up. Finally the race started and I took off at a nice clip. Amazingly my leg didn't hurt at all and I was running a 7 minute/mile pace and running easy.

The race started directly into the wind and continued that way for the first mile. Luckily there were enough people around that I was able to draft off the crowd and didn't feel the wind too much. We turned around at mile 1 and ran with a tailwind for the next 2 miles. Right after the turn around I actually caught my hero and passed her. She recognized me and said hello as I passed. I asked her if she was taking it easy today and of course she said yes. I didn't care though, I was running easy and fast and was now ahead of someone that I had run behind so much I was beginning to worry that I could only recognize her from that perspective. " I think I know you, but could you turn around, Oh yes, I know you!"

According to Garmin, I ran the next 2 miles in 6:50 each. Thank you tailwind! The only problem was that my car key fell out of my pocket at mile 2 and I had to stop and go back for it. It didn't take a lot of time but it was embarrassing. Stupid car key, I bought these new shorts yesterday and I love them but the pockets are in the back and there is only one tiny little piece of Velcro (not the dog) to hold the pocket closed. My little car key was able to work it's way out. I'll have to fix that for next time.

Since this was a St. Paddy's day race there were many people dressed up like leprechauns. At mile 3 I caught some college kids who were decked out in costume. One even had a pillow shoved up under his green vest in order to make him look fat. Did I mention I had to catch these two? Yes, they were running faster than me while dressed in a silly costume. They pissed me off! So I caught them right at the 2nd turnaround where we went back into the wind. I was feeling good so I blew by them (take that punks!). Oops, now there was no one to draft with while running head on into the fu#$ing Oklahoma tornadic winds. So they caught me again and past me at the 4 mile mark. I watched them as they played around, talked, slowed up to wait on a pretty girl and generally did everything they could to make me look and feel stupid for struggling to run as fast as they were. Youth sucks! They had probably stayed out all night partying before the run also.

I fought this wind all the way to the finish. Garmin was telling me I was running GREAT but it didn't sink in until I saw the finishing clock and it was still under 35 minutes! Holy crap! I could break 35 minutes for 5 miles! I kicked myself in what was left of my ass and tried to sprint to the finish. The bastards were getting their pictures taken while I was struggling with the clock. I made it in at 35:10. Can't say I'm disappointed with that but man it would be nice to break 35.

When I checked the finished sheets I saw that I place 3rd in my age group! Yea for me! But oh crap! I have to wait around for my trophy and it's still FREAKING COLD! (no I didn't even bring a coat or pants to wear after the race, get off my back, I'm a guy, planning ahead is not my strong point) I walked as much as I could stand to stretch and loosen up. Then I ran to the car and cranked the heat. I stayed until I saw the king leprechaun begin speaking into the microphone and then pushed my way into the large group in order to get out of the wind. BONUS: They had green beer and pizza. Screw the cold, green beer is good anytime! I got my trophy to thunderous applause (OK so maybe one person sympathy clapped), gave a short acceptance speech were I thanked all the little people I stepped on to get to this achievement and then went back for more beer.

This was the last race of the March Triple Crown series which I was registered for and they decided to give out the awards for this now. I guess they couldn't wait until it was warmer. It's OK, more beer and the cold wasn't as bad. I had no idea if I would place but I had 2 third place finishes in the 3 races so I thought I might have a chance. Well it turns out they only gave awards to the first place finisher in each age group. The trophies were really cool gold cups mounted atop large wooden bases. I really wanted one but didn't win. Darn, I will have to see how I did in my age group when they post the results online because as soon as I realized I didn't win, I made a bee-line for the car and the heater.

14 miles tomorrow on the OKC marathon course with the Landrunners. Should be fun but I hope the temperature goes up and the wind goes down. Not likely but I'll make an offering to the Oklahoma weather Gods, maybe sacrifice a child or something, and who knows.

On a totally different note, I took my baby out for a spin yesterday. I haven't mentioned much about my love because it's been cold and she's been stuck in the garage for many months. She was covered in dust and was still dirty from the last time I took her out in the fall so I knew she would be upset with me. Yesterday as beautiful, 70 degrees and no wind. I pushed her out of the garage and sprayed her down and washed her gently. I spent extra time on her chrome and windshield 'cause I know she likes it when I treat her special. After her bath, I dried her with a cloth and lovingly massaged her leather. By then she was putty in my hand and we were back to being a hot couple. The fire was rekindled and our flame was burning bright. I fired her up and rode her across town to pick up my race packet. She was purring like a kitten and smooth as silk. Oh I can't wait for summer.

Thanks for listening