I have great ideas! Wonderful, terrific, AH-MAZ-ING ideas.
Ok, no, I have crazy ideas that I manage to sell to unsuspecting people (and Rachel, but she enjoys pain).
Most people in my family have learned their lesson and stay far, far away. But, now that we have moved to a new state there is fresh meat are new friends who don't know about my past. Oh, and the kids have been exempt up to now, but all that changed at the HOT CHOCOLATE 15K RUN!
Many, many months ago I got Rachel and Becky excited about doing a race that involved chocolate. Who cares about the 9.3 miles of Seattle hills to be conquered? There was going to be chocolate! Unbeknownst to me, Ben had been paying attention to what I was saying (it happens sometimes) and he was also excited about the chocolate. Oh, and the bragging rights. Then a little while ago, I met someone at a local running group who had registered but couldn't go and voila! Josh was sucked in as well.
Becky was so excited about the race that she forgot the exact date and registered to do a relay race (8 miles) the day before.
Let us all take a moment of silence for Becky's awesomeness.
Race day we all piled into the van with our incredibly helpful driver, Jason, and drove to Seattle. As we pulled up to the Space Needle to get dropped off, I realized that I had been reading the race start time incorrectly the whole time and the race was starting right then!
Cue panic. And incredibly apologetic Irene.
Luckily, the race had 12 waves so we easily got in line then got out of line to use the bathroom and then got back in line again and still had to wait a while before they released our wave (the very, very, very last one). Did I mention we were in the last wave? As in, the 15 minute mile pacer (the slowest pace allowed technically) and the race SWEEPER (not just a little ominous sounding name) were right behind us.
Our chocolate crew. And that is Josh's normal face in the morning and had nothing to do with the fact that he was running and would not be able to partake of any of the chocolate. (Never fear, I had a box of thin mints - they're vegan! - in the car waiting for him.)
I may have some issues. My body does not appear to be very fond of running. I killed a bone dead trying to train for a half-marathon. I seriously sprained an ankle at a half-marathon (the infamous potty dance). I wrenched a knee at a half-marathon. You think I'd take the hint, but no. I hadn't ever really properly trained for those races, so I was determined to do it right this time. Starting in September I worked out 4-5 days a week for 1-1.5 hours. Which somehow lead to me injuring myself before the race. I spent a month and a half trying to carefully manage my issues while still getting a good cardio workout consistently.
That worked out ooooookkkkaaaaaayyyyyyy. Rachel and I ran the downhill parts and walked the uphill parts. The pain was a little crazy when I was running, but I was super motivated to stay as far away from the SWEEPER as I could. I couldn't stay very far away, but it did keep me moving.
But I wasn't moving as quickly as Ben! In a surprise upset, he beat Josh to the finish line. Technically, Ben was supposed to be running with an adult because he was under 12, but we all knew that wasn't going to happen. We gave him a cover story (I lost my mom, but I know where our meet up spot is after the race) and Rachel gave him her phone and we set him loose. Jason said he was so intent on looking for Josh first at the finish line that he almost didn't see Ben cross.
Josh (running as a male between 50-54 years old) developed a side stitch early on that slowed him down to a walking pace for a mile or so. But he rallied and finished just 31 SECONDS after Ben. I have to say that I appreciate that he is representing for CU Boulder!
Rachel was kind enough to hang out with me during the race. She chatted while I huffed and puffed. Always good to have company to distract you from what you are actually doing. Especially in a town as hilly as Seattle.
Josh was waiting for us at the end of the race and we snagged one of the professional photographers for a picture. Please note Josh's resting teenager face.
Afterwards we all grabbed our hot chocolate and biodegradable mug with fondue stuff. Honestly, the chocolate was a bit of a disappointment and I wished they gave us a real mug with a couple of bars of chocolate to take home - my stomach wasn't really ready for rich food after 15k.
BUT the medal is very cool (please forgive my blurry pic) and the jackets are a huge improvement over the t-shirt you get at some races. I think Ben has been wearing his since we got it at the expo the day before. Like, I said, he was very interested in the bragging rights.
Afterwards, we were all sore and tired, but muscles are recovering and I have an appointment with a physical therapist next week. Hopefully she/he won't give me the stink eye when I tell her/him what I've been up to.
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