Saturday was my second 5K. There was a lot that was different about this run that made it more enjoyable than the last (and ultimately I think helped me run faster). The first was that I had friends there. The coffee guy and his awesome girl were there (one running, one managing the race). Being able to chit-chat prior to the race, and hearing your name (because they actually know you) being shouted at the finish line made all the difference. No longer was I just standing around looking dumbly at all the “real” runners and finishing with no one to talk to about times and how much you want to die.
Another thing that made a huge difference is there was an actual cheer team at the end of the race (not just those that knew who I was). My first race, you passed the finish line they handed you a metal, and you could go on your merry way. This one? Cheering team with cow bells and shouting and yelling. It was awesome. They didn’t know me, but it really felt good to be cheered on—especially since (the worse part of the race) the end was all up hill.
And. Coffee. Really? Need I say more? I vote there should be coffee at the start (and finish) of every race.
And there was llamas. Llamas!! I am proud to say I did run faster than the llamas (thank goodness).
The only thing that kinda wasn’t cool about this race was . . . hills. There were two pretty good hills (one at the very end) that were horrible when you had to run them, but I feel pretty accomplished having run them without passing out. And for some odd reason I got blisters on my toes this run—no new shoes or anything so I found that weird.
All-in-all I ended up knocking 3ish minutes off my last race time!
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