Race day is over and it went really good! We’re tired, though, and it’s only 1pm. Here’s our recap:
The day started early at 5:30am. I didn’t get much sleep because I stayed up all night watching UVA get pummeled by UMBC in the NCAA Tournament. Even though I only got a little over 4 hours sleep, I’m glad I stayed up to watch such a historic game. Still, 5:30 was no fun. Dark and cold – colder than the predicted 33 degrees. It was 29 when we got up. Coffee, food, getting our gear together, pinning our bibs – and it was time to go.
My car windshield had ice on it. It was cold out! Using the windshield washer only made it worse. I had to pull over to try to scrape the windshield with the ODU basketball parking pass my wife found in the glove compartment! On the way to the beach the temperature dropped to 28. We got there as the sun was rising, found a place to park 7 blocks away from the starting line and we’re on our way…
Time to do the corral wait and since I was in a different corral from the girls, it was time to split up. This is where you get a chance to check out some of the outfits.
It started out cold, but once the race started it wasn’t that bad. It was pretty good running weather with no wind and plenty of sunshine. I ended up having a great race. I finished with my best time ever at 49:24! As I got into it I realized I was making really good time and had a shot at coming in under 50 minutes, which is better than a 10 minute mile. So I started pushing it. My last mile I did a 9:24! My wife did great finishing in 1 hour 5 minutes and the kid came in a few minutes later at 1 hour 8 minutes. A success all around!
The after race party was fun – lots of beer, food and music. We stayed for a while watching and helping build beer cup pyramids. I think the kid gained good experience for college with that one.
So, it was a great race day! Now time for the rest of St Patrick’s day – and to get ready for our next race. The Big Blue 5k at ODU in a month…
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