Birthday Racing

I registered for the Cobra Brewing 5k this year because I enjoyed last year's vibe and post-race porter so much. I was really lucky the weather shifted this weekend, giving us a slightly cooler, though very humid, Saturday morning. It really sucked that they decided to start the race as late as 9:30 a.m., but I knew to expect the ugly two-loop course. What I didn't expect was the brewery not offering their porter to race participants, so I went home beer-less and thoroughly disappointed. I definitely won't be registering for that one again. The race photos kinda sucked, too. I might just dress up again and stage my own shoot.

But I ran an awesome 38:03, whereas I've mostly been running 14:30-miles on all my shorter summer runs, and I looked great as Wonder Woman.

Sunday being my birthday, I signed up for the Hottest Half and 10k and ran the 10k. The weather was quite a bit cooler and actually pleasant. The event ran out of race shirts even near my size before I arrived, so I have YET ANOTHER garbage race shirt for which I paid just as much as anyone else and won't get to wear. The course also sucked and I won't be doing this race again either. It was predominantly concrete with a smattering of asphalt and no small bit of painful, rocky, trail. My feet were bruised and cramping because of it.

On the bright side, my costume was inexpensive and far more comfortable than I expected, and I got lots of compliments. I asked a volunteer to write "BDAY" on the back of one of my calves and "BIG 30" on the other, so I got lots of birthday wishes, too. The course had LOTS of support and water stations. I felt strong and really enjoyed myself, even after racing the day before, and I finished with a 13:36 average per-mile pace, WAY better than all my 14-16 training runs.

The pro pics were great and I got a free one, too, as well as a badass medal with my birthday on it. The venue, Community Beer, offered a rich Russian imperial stout called Legion, which went beautifully with my garb and more than made up for the previous day's disappointment.