Long before the shin became an issue I got a Living Social deal for a 5K run in New Orleans that would benefit the Tipatina's Rock and Blues Foundation. For less then $20 we would get a race, a medal, swag bag, and food from some of the most prominent restaurants in NOLA, so I jumped on the deal and talked my sister Beth into coming too. Lucky for me this past week Dr. Justin has been letting me increase my run time, so on race day I would be able to run for 28 minutes. Yay.
We loaded up and headed over Saturday afternoon.
This is what happens when my short arms try to take a selfie.
Oh look, there I am.
Parking was easy, and then there was the pre-race entertainment: Dancing Elvises.
Sure most of them looked like there were over 50 and none of them looked like they'ed had more than an hour's practice, but hey, it was fun.
After the Elvises (Elvii?), it was time to line up and for the national anthem. And then...the rain. Which ended up being not so bad, but it made the road slick. But we were off.
Right now anything more than a 3/2 interval seems to bother my shin, so that's what I'm sticking with for now. Most of mile 1 was spent trying not to run over or get run over by the kids running group that started in the very back but would sprint past and then flat out stop in the middle of the road. They were cute but damn annoying.
Mile 1: 14:22
We had course entertainment. A couple of school bands were out along the course, and those kids played through the rain and until the very last person went by. That was pretty nice.
The rain stopped about a mile and a half in. Then I realized it was just keeping down the humidity. The rest of the race was pretty humid, but at least it was not so hot. I finished my 28 minutes of running at 1.92 miles, so I was pretty pleased. I was not pleased that I missed them handing out beer at the water station. Mark was upset at this also.
Mark was doing awesome when he passed me. He's the one in the white hat that isn't a girl.
Mile 2: 15:15
I was a good patient and walked most of the last mile. It was kinda depressing to see my pace just get higher and higher, but I'll be damned if I do anything to make this shin thing worse again. At the same time, there was no way I was going to walk across the finish line. I discussed it with Mark and Beth and we decided I could run the last quarter mile.
So that's what I did. And then I looked up and saw my sister jogging back towards me and Mark right behind her to run in with me. And I teared up. Signs and cheers are nice, but there is nothing like the sight of your family running towards you to show their support and love. It felt so awesome!
And then I was done!
Mile 3: 16:13
Mile 3.1: 12:35
Annnnnddddd...there was no medal. And no food. They'ed given both to all of the kid's group that was running. Speedy Beth got a medal, but Mark and I didn't, and we were pretty disappointed. But Beth found me my very own special medal.
Being New Orleans, the course was super flat and was an out and back. Both Beth and Mark set their half marathon PRs, and I am so proud of them. Even having to walk as much as I did, I ran my 3rd fasted 5K. And even better, my shin did not hurt once during the run or the next day, so, victory!
Since there was no food left (and I mean NO food left), we packed on up and headed to the nearest McDonald's, the post-race meal of champions.
Time: 47:26
Overall: 547/630 - results don't count all the kid's group participants
Gender: 303/366
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