Sunday Funday!

Happy Mother's Day! I'm not always good with words, especially when they express sentiment or tender feelings of any kind so I'll just leave this conversation with my mom as a reason why I love her:

Mom: Do you have to work tomorrow?
Me: Yeah, I'm pretty much the reason Kathy doesn't have to work on days like Mother's Day.
Mom: Why?
Me: You know, because she has kids and stuff.
Mom: So? Nobody told her to go do something like that.

Since my mom hates taking pictures, here are some that she was probably forced to take by someone else...from like 5 years ago.

Mother's Day cruise to the Bahamas

My high school graduation

Same cruise

Wearing her slightly smudged Team Rennay tshirt at my first half

My mom also hates attention so I'll move on and let her be.

Yesterday I ran the Throo the Zoo 5K which I've wanted to do for a while but never got around to. It's definitely got some hills but they're all pretty short climbs except the last one which is actually IN the zoo and lasts forever. The worst part about the "family friendly" 5Ks is that they lack any basic runner etiquette because there are a lot of kids and first-timers who just don't know any better. So lining up Autumn and I lined up much much closer to the front than normal and closer to the center. It didn't really matter because somehow two women with strollers still managed to be walking right in the middle of the front pack which caused a bit of a runner pile up in addition to the kids who took off running then came to a dead stop to turn and run in the other direction. Frequently seen 5K hazards but us veterans just adjust and move on and usually no one is harmed. Trust me, I'm not hating on stroller parents. Most of them can run me into oblivion with a 30 pound kid in tow. I actually really like first timers because they're always really cute and excited and remind me what this sport is all about. They're hopeful but nervous and it's refreshing to see that because, at least for me, as we get into longer races those 5 and 10ks which are now training runs don't seem like a big deal or much of an accomplishment anymore when they should be. A 5K is never "Just a 5k" and a race is never "Just a run." It's nice to have newbies around to bring that life back into racing when it gets a little stale. 

I subscribed to the "The only way to run faster is to run faster." frame of mind and took off at a pace that was faster than I would have ordinarily but I really wanted to see what I was capable of. The first mile was clogged and crowded but I still managed a 9:59 which was really exciting since I never really feel capable of sub-10s especially in any sustained capacity. Mile 2 clicked off fast and I clocked a 9:33. Blazing for me. My favorite part of a 5K is the last 1.1 because you kind of start to get tired but then say, "There's only a mile left" and how can you punk out with a mile to go? I also appreciate that there aren't any mile markers at halfway so by the time you see the second marker, you're almost finished. The big climb was in the last mile (isn't it always) and I checked my Garmin at the top and had lost almost 30 seconds. I was feeling really good so I picked it back up into the finish and ended with my very first *drumroll please* SUB-30 5K! Alright, so my Garmin said it was slightly less than 5K but I'll just take that to mean I stayed right on course without a lot of weaving. I made the last turn before the finish at 29:27 and was like "Ah! I have to finish under 30!" I'm a little irritated that the official results include only the clock time and not a chip time because it has me over 30 but that's just a vanity issue. There were 156 in my age group and "officially" I claimed 40th place which I like a lot! It was a beautiful day but later I had some pretty rough hip pain which is still persisting today. It's weird since I never have hip pain but Autumn predicts it's bursitis. Sounds lame. 

Every time I do a race with this organizer my name is spelled wrong and in lowercase letters. I can't stand it.