Running for Chocolate

My alarm went off and I see the clock says 430am. At first I don't remember, and I'm trying to figure out why I set my alarm so early. Then it hits me. It's a race day.

Don't get me wrong. Originally my buddy and I were hell ya! Swag is a running jacket and there's a CHOCOLATE after party. Until I saw the weather. Winter seriously came to Texas overnight. With wind chill, 17 out. Between that and the pain of getting there (get up at 430 for a 730 race) my excitement had greatly diminished. And ya, I'm whining. I just wanted Scotty to beam me there.

I started off with my breakfast of champions. Strong coffee followed by a chunk of banana bread. A couple long races ago I figured out that a homemade muffin or banana bread fueled me really well. Ever since then, it's my go to meal.

Then out the door with more coffee, 12 pounds of gear options (unfortunately not too much of an exaggeration), and we're off. We have come up with three alternate routes after taking the same route multiple times with the same result to this popular large race location in Dallas. Sitting in stopped traffic each and every time. We decided we'd rather be early sitting in the parking lot this time and our fingers were crossed we wouldn't get lost.

We essentially drove from the door to the best race parking lot with reasonable traffic. Things are starting off well and we are hanging out in the car. We see that the race has officially announced that because of the weather we could switch to the 5K with no penalty.

We had survived the cold and rain from another race and were thinking that we'd still do the 15K. Until we got out of the car that is. It felt way colder than 17 and the wind was horrible. We're still debating, but we are feeling our toes and hands getting cold. So the pro/con debate started. The intent of the run for us was to get our long run in, but we could do that tomorrow when it warms up. Then the final straw for me----no medal at the finish. I'm out, onto the 5K.

The race was very well organized. The start went smoothly and the course was good and well marked. When we finished, they had made the after party a one entry / one exit affair which made it move very smoothly. I had some hot chocolate to warm up, said hi to a few people we knew, hit the road to get breakfast at a toasty warm restaurant, and then home for a hot shower.

Since the race was 1/3 of what I had planned to run, I had a great-fast race. My toes did warm up about 1.5 miles in, but I was honestly glad that I didn't do the longer one. I don't regret my decision at all and will do a 9 mile tomorrow.