Frostbite 5 Mile Race

Thanks to Kristi for allowing me to add this photo to my
collection and thanks to the random stranger who took it for us.

Today I had 7 on the schedule and I decided 5 with friends would reap much more benefit.

The race began at 9:00 a.m. which is quite nice for this time of year. I was really hoping for a snow run. Instead it was somewhere between 35-38 and just wet. No rain which was good but heavy moisture in the air. I met up with some running and walking buddies before the race started. The race is sponsored by the Ambler Area Running Club and starts and finishes at Wissahickon High School. The course had some ups and downs but none of them were awful. There is a portion of it the could have been run on a trail - maybe 3/4 mile - but the trail was not in good shape so we ran the entire course on the streets.

I just tried to keep moving for this one. I don't wear my watch for races but there were markers on the street. So I took my walk break at mile 2, another shorter one at the water stop at mile 2.5 and then another shorter one at mile 4. I probably could have skipped the last one but it's sort of automatic now.

Things that made me smile today (in order that I remember them)
- Seeing my friend Michelle in her tutu
- Seeing John C before the race started. John is a new grandpa and life has kept him off the trails for awhile.
- Seeing lots of other fitness buddies before, during and after the race: Sue, Mark, John T. Helen, Brian, Kristi Y., and Julius
- The dog chained up in his front yard who really wanted to be running with us
- The small child - maybe 2 years old if that - standing in the bay window of his house waving at everyone.
- The funeral director watching everyone going by as the hearse waited in the driveway. I'm not sure if they were ready to roll or not but sad as it is to have a funeral I have to say it's funny to think they had to wait for us
- The woman who was a few steps behind me with about a half mile to go. She started saying.."Pregnant going into labor...." which made me and a few others turn around to see if she needed help. Then she says " I survived that I can do this.." . Everyone has their own mantras I guess.
- The guy in the Eagles sweatshirt who I deduced was with the Back on My Feet group encouraging different ones along, He ran backward for a time. He was very peppy. I saw him at the finish too running various of his group in.
- The gooey brownies back at the gym after the race.

My results can be found here. As far as races go 52:47 is a PR. My previous best in a five mile race was the Media 5 miler in 2009 at 53:05. I once did 5 miles on the Valley Forge loop in under 50. Only once. I'm not sure how that happened. I'm pretty sure that the Earth was rotating funny though.

Today was fun. I'm thankful for my friends who talked up the race effectively peer pressuring me into it.