Bringing in the New Year Running!

Two 5k’s in two days! Ok, I only ran one of them, but I was at the other one cheering on my cousin. She was running her very first organized race and I really wanted to be there for it. The race my cousin ran was on December 31^st in the evening. It was called ‘Til the Sun Goes Down and it took place on the Ventura beach front. The race was fun and had a great atmosphere. People were wearing silly 2012 hats, crazy feathers and there was even a fake afro among the runners. 

Start of 'Til the Sun Goes Down

I was disappointed that they wouldn’t give my cousin an event shirt because she’d signed up that day and the shirts were for the people that had signed up online. The race coordinators ended up taking a whole box of leftover shirts home with them. They also announced at the beginning that the route was not closed or marked other than a traffic cone at each end to let the runners know to turn around. That was a little disappointing, but the run seemed to go off without a hitch. The sun set as the runners made their way up and down the beach. It was a beautiful evening. I was so proud of my cousin!

My cousin at the finish!

The next morning I ran the Santa Barbara New Year’s Resolution 5k. We left the house at 6:30 in the morning in order to get the free parking. I’d woken up with a cold the morning before, so I was congested and had a terrible sore throat the day of the race. On top of that, I’d been battling a migraine for close to a week and it hadn’t let up. I still felt confident I could pull off a good race.

When Daddio and I started to warm up, that confidence started to disappear. My foot instantly made itself known! Three weeks of rest and it starts pinging at me as soon as I started jogging. I really hope the podiatrist can give me some good news about how to train on it. I was feeling rough and my breathing was horrible. I’m hoping it’s just the cold and not the fact that I’ve gotten that out of shape in just three weeks!

I knew at the half mile mark that I was going to have a terrible race, but I was determined to enjoy the experience. Daddio later told me we started too fast, which I tend to do during races. At the halfway point they had water, so I grabbed some, my throat was killing me. I took one big gulp and it went down the wrong pipe. I felt like I had water bouncing up my throat for the rest of the run. We finished in 30:43 making that my 5k PR since I’ve never run a 5k race before. Unfortunately it’s not nearly as fast I was hoping (it’s a slower pace than my half marathon!), but I’ll have a chance to beat it next month at another local race.

Daddio and I about half a mile to the finish.

It was a gorgeous morning and watching the sun rise over the water was breathtaking. I loved bringing in the New Year with my Dad doing something that we both love. To top it off, I got to see a couple of my local running friends doing the event and yelled out for one at the finish line. I hope I didn't embarrass her! Even sucking air and getting a "meh" time couldn’t ruin the fun experience.