On February 10, I ran the Love the Run You’re With 5K. It was put on by Pacers Running Stores here in the DC area. It’s been a while since I’ve run one of their races, and I’m glad I found this one.
Admittedly, I don’t run a lot of 5Ks, but I found myself looking for a February race for two reasons
- I was asked to continue on with Team New-Skin until mid-March and needed another race.
- I need to work on my short distance running for this year’s triathlons.
It was cold! Thankfully, Sunday was warmer than Saturday, but it was still chilly, as evidenced by my many layers. I convinced Betsy to join me, and she brought her dog, Charlie, who probably had the most fun of all of us.
The bibs were “stoplight party” style, meaning that those in relationships wore red, those unattached wore green, and “it’s complicated” was yellow. Betsy worried that people would wonder if her red bib indicated her relationship with her dog. 🙂
I admit, I didn’t look at the course before the race. I looked at two things – the parking situation and the swag. Parking was good and the swag was a BLANKET! Both very good things. I have way too many race shirts as it is. So what if the cat will commandeer the blanket in the near future?
The course itself was simple – an out and back down Army-Navy drive. Not the most exciting race, but I enjoyed it. I liked the full out and back because it meant I could see a lot of people. There were a number of fun costumes, including a woman dressed as a crazy cat lady (with stuffed cats attached to her top), Belle and the Beast, and even ALF. Sadly, Betsy didn’t know who ALF was, and this made me feel old. The other plus to the out and back was that while the race started with a giant hill, it also ended with a giant hill. I flew down to that finish!
I finished in 38:23, the fastest I have run a 5K since I got sick in 2010 and had to slow down my running. It was great to finish strong and feeling good! Unfortunately, I’m definitely a cold weather runner, so this summer’s triathlons are going to be rough (especially the one in August), but if I just keep training and working on my heat acclimatization, I will be okay.