The Bunny Dash 5k

I finally got my first race of the year in!

My son, Cory, got the first 5k of his life in. It was so much fun! He's 14 and has started to show interest in running. He joined me for some of my training these last two weeks and I decided to sign him up for this race with me. We had such a great day together!

The Results
Lets just get this out of the way. I stunk it up out there. I have excuses though. It took me 50:03 to cover the same real estate it took Cory to cover in 32:27. I would've been depressed by that if I wasn't so stinkin' proud of the boy. And he totally could've shaved a few minutes off that. When we were lining up for the start I stayed to the back by the 14 min/mile folks. I knew Cory was faster and I told him he could move up. But he said he wanted to stay with me. Once we got going I could tell I was holding him back, but he didn't say a word. He just looked over at me and smiled from time to time. Finally, I just told him he should go ahead and that I would see him at the finish. I really think if I hadn't said anything the boy would've stayed with me the whole time. He's such a good kid!

The Excuses
Firstly, you would think a race with the rather unassuming name of Bunny Dash would be a pretty simple walk in the park. And, coincidentally, it took place in a park. A forest preserve, to be exact. And it was beautiful. But there were LOTS of hills in this place. Not super big crazy hills. But the small rolling hills that never seem to end. I run mostly in my neighborhood or on a trail that is part of the Rails to Trails program. Its a program which repurposes old railroad tracks into running and cycling trails, which, of course, are flat. And straight. So I run on nothing but flat routes ALL the time. And these hills totally snuck up on me. My poor little calves were burning and my shins were even starting to hurt....which never happens to me. Total wake-up call. I need to find me some hilly terrain to train on.

Secondly, the last 5k I ran was about 20 pounds ago. I have packed on a significant amount of poundage since I ran the half last October. And I've been wondering why the heck this training has seemed so hard for me. I realized it just takes more effort to move the larger version of me, as opposed to the lighter version. Another wake-up call. I need to lesson the load for the poor tootsies to carry.

The Free Stuff
I'm a big fan of the free stuff. I don't know why, but it just makes me all giddy. Here's what we got:

There is a reusable grocery bag from Whole Foods that had some coupons in it as well as some bars by Clif, Raw Rev, and LaraBar. There were also FRS energy chews in there. And, of course, the shirt. I'm pretty sure Cory doesn't want a reusable grocery bag, so I get two. Even better! There was a lot of other stuff around that they were handing out too. Bagels, bananas, juice, cereal bars, and tons of LaraBars. I tried the cookie dough flavor for the first time. Yum! I'm so hooking myself up with more of those.

The Fun Stuff
There was this cute little photo op.

And a petting zoo. I almost got attacked by a llama!

But these little guys were cute:

And, of course, there was this guy!

Cory was not entirely amused by all of this. But he took great pleasure in making fun of me and my excitement. Here he is before the race started:

The After Party

This race started at 9am. Not bad. But we live 1 1/2 hours away. And I was doing a same-day packet pickup which started at 7:30am. So we left our house about 6:30am. This was way earlier than the boy likes to start his Saturdays. After the race we stopped at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Cory LOVES him some Five Guys. And since we don't have one by us, it was a no-brainer. Of course, I had to pass a little time shopping before Five Guys opened, which made me almost as giddy as the free stuff.

And while we were both feeling great and energized after the run, it quickly wore off during the drive home. He caught up on his beauty rest while I tried to think of the next run I should sign him up for.

Reflections

A beautiful day. A gorgeous course. A well organized event. A proud Mommy Moment. And a couple swift kicks in the butt. I'd say a success all around.