Pretty exciting weekend, but I was mostly exhausted!!
In all things RUNNING-RELATED; here's my weekend race re-cap.
Friday: Dawn of the Dead Dash
After a 4 hour shift, I had to rush home, get changed into my running gear. I didn't really plan on dressing up, I was pulling out my warm running tops from my drawers, hadn't used them in a while. Leanna suggested I dress up as a Princess Runner...princess? Okay. She gave me the running skirt I had won a few months ago, Sparkly Aqua!! And, said to wear my sparkly runner band. Then, I added in a pair of high socks, that had a little sparkle to them. I felt a little silly but they were totally smiling. We headed out a later than I planned. It was a rainy drive, rainy!! We found a SONIC once we made the 50 minute drive to Tacoma; HAPPINESS!! Then, it was off to drop girls at a friends house. Once, I found the address it was back out into the Friday Night Traffic on I-5N..did't expect that, add in unfamiliar roads and I was a little worried. I found a parking spot and RUSHED to the meeting venue.
While, I was jogging UPHILL, I started to notice runners w/bibs going downhill. They had started and it wasn't even 7:30. It was about 7:15, so I was racing up to check-in. Got there. Got checked-in. Got my bib & shirt and info on what's going to happen. Then, I realized this wasn't at all what I 'expected'. There was no exact course. They gave you a map, and the crossroads for checkpoints, then you had to 'get there' and not be tagged. Okay. Okay. I was scared at that point. I was alone. Made it out the venue, asked a couple to snap a quick photo of me and asked them if they were familiar with the area. They said, yes. Then another 2 minutes of chit chat and I was joining their group. Cool. UNTIL, we heard craziness nearby and everyone started running. ZOMBIE!! And, I was flying, like lost the 'new running friends' flying. There was ANOTHER couple, and I asked if they knew where...yeah, I was a dork. Turns out they did...and I stayed with this duo. We took other routes to stay away from the 'popular' streets. There was real life still going on, people still driving to/from places, going out to dinner. Made it to checkpoint 1, where they met up with more friends. Checkpoint #2 was crazy infested!! And, one of the teammates and I made a QUICK run to the 'safe zone', I was tagged, but still got checked in, which made me think, did they tag me after I stepped in, since I was running hard into the zone. I don't know. I just continued on with the team, UPHILL, running from zombies. Running from possible zombies, Running & Running. Jumping over a fence because the alley was blocked off. Laughing. It was COLD. Luckily no rainfall. Wet Roads. Chatting. Continuously saying, "oh sh*t!" We heard from other runners that Checkpoint #3 was crazy infested and we made a plan of attack. Well, after all that planning, and ducking, hiding behind trees, taking it silly serious, checkpoint #3 was NO WHERE to be found. And, about 15 other runners had also scoped the scene with nothing. Ah, well. It was a hilarious/spooky 2 1/2 hour FUN RUN!! Once, I saw that it was almost 9, and I was FAR from my parking spot, I was literally running through the area, a good mile! Ohh, and I was loving it!! The weather was just perfect.
Saturday: #anywhere5k Zombie Run.I was exhausted after the drive home and a sleepless night but I had planned to get my virtual race done. Another runner mama, was going to be running with me and since there was rain in the forecast, we planned for a treadmill 5k. We met up and I did my 5k first. It was ROUGH, I was a little worn. And, I actually ran Mile 1 in 9:50!! Not too bad. I had a pretty LONG walking interval which slowed my pace down drastically. My legs were a little beaten up from killer hills, walking them even got me. Washington has some STEEP hills. No joke. After the recovery walk. I picked it back up to to finish strong.
5k in 42:42. Not my best on the treadmill but I got it done. Notice the shirt, it's the swag from the Dawn of the Dead Dash. I would much rather receive a shirt vs. a medal any day and I have with most local races. Other, than the virtual races. Medals aren't that big of a deal, I still love them and get happy when I receive them. I'm REALLY excited to see the Memory Run Medal with a photo of my dad. I love to sport my tops more. And, you will see me wearing them,at least, weekly, not the same ones since I have several. You really can't walk around sporting your medal. Yes, I have them proudly displayed on my bling/bib board. And, I've been thinking of a way to display the bibs instead of just stacking them.
"Don't wait to for inspiration to find you; BECOME IT!!"
