What a great weekend! I left work early on Friday, spent some time with Amanda in the afternoon, and we went to pick up our Ukrop's Monument Ave. 10K race packets.
The race itself was a fascinating study in organization. The whole area around the start, from Monroe Park to Broad & Harrison, was a chaotic mass of people, with right at 27,000 people registered to participate, and countless spectators for both the 10K and the children's 1-mile runs.
Moving (slowly) over to Broad St, the scene changed from one of a major party to an almost militaristic backdrop, with thousands upon thousands of people all queued up along the entire width of the 4-lane road for blocks and blocks. Each group of runners, organized by projected completion times, moved slowly behind an elevated sign showing the letter of their heat. I was in J, which was to start 30 minutes after the gun, and it took all 30 minutes for us to move just 2 blocks.
The scene made me feel like I was in some sort of colonial battle, with regimented troops waiting for their chance to attack the enemy. Creepy, but that was definitely the feel.
Amanda and I didn't stage together: she had predicted a time of 1:10, whereas I had predicted 1:05, and the difference was sufficient to divide us early. That's ok: she and I don't run together, anyway (our paces are very different).
Anyway, out of the gate, I felt really good, set what I thought was my usual pace, and immediately noticed that I was pulling away from most of my group. I kept wondering if I was pushing myself, but I managed to pretty much keep the same pace all the way through, and finished the race in 52:17. Not bad, and it means I averaged 7.115mph. If I can knock off 6 minutes before May 20 (Carytown 10K), I'll be at 8mph average, which borders on actually running, and not just jogging.
After the race, I didn't feel so great. I battled stomach cramps, leg pains, and back aches all day Saturday, and felt like the Sun had drained me. We didn't do anything to cool down after the event, though: just bouncing from one tent to the next, eating and drinking the free treats. Next time, there will be a cool-down stretching session...
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Yesterday was a big day for Little Man. He started off with church in the morning, a really long nap, then a grumpy midday followed by a fun trip to Lowe's. After his afternoon nap, wherein I put together our new wheelbarrow, we went for wheelbarrow rides around the yard. You'd have thought he'd died and gone to Heaven. He was spinning around, making his car sound ("thppt!"), calling for me to go see the doggies, and enjoying being dumped out of the cart (very slowly and carefully).
We kept that up for what seemed like an hour, and then we took him out to dinner with Dad & Randy, where he flirted with all the ladies at the next table and charmed everyone's socks off. He got to see all of his grandparents, and had a really great day. I love our Little Man!
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