Matt and I ran the third race in the Athlete’s Closet Winter Series on Saturday.  Following the loss of our beautiful pup, Bailey, on Thursday night, we decided that we still wanted to race but we were also feeling completely emotionally and physically drained.  As a result, the race didn’t feel particularly good, but it was definitely good for us to get outside and run.

My brother Billy (or “Bill” as he likes to be called now that he’s an adult!!) wasn’t planning on running with us but he decided last minute that he’d come and run with me for support.  We all wore our “The Little GSP” t-shirts in memory of Bailey and, true to his word, Billy kept pace with me throughout the entire race.  I told him at the start that he should tell me to go faster when I was plodding up the (many) hills on the course, so he did and I think it made me go a little faster.

Despite Billy’s best efforts, this was not a stellar race for Matt and me.  We both finished within seconds of each other in the 26:02-ish range which is 2+ minutes off of Matt’s target time and at least 45 seconds slower than I was aiming for.  At least I was able to finish strong AND I have photographic proof of it!  With a few hundred feet to go I started sprinting and my step-father captured this photo.  I think this may be the first photo of me in a 5K where I look like I’m actually running!  (Usually I’m mid-stride with a painful expression on my face!)

Here are my RunKeeper stats for the race.  Again, nothing too impressive but, considering the circumstances, not terrible either.  The weather was beautiful (35° and sunny) and we had a great cheering section in the form of my brother’s girlfriend Suzanne, my mom, and my step-father.  It was really nice of them all to come out to support us… thanks guys!!!

Our next race will be the Pickle Run in Ridley Creek State Park on February 15th.  I’ve heard great things about the Pickle Run Series (they’re super fun AND they’re predictive, meaning that the winner is the one who most accurately predicts their time in advance!) and it should be really neat to finally run a race on our “home” course at the park.  I’m looking forward to it!

Miles since last post:  75.3
Days since last post:  15
Avg. Daily Miles since 7/18/13: 4.87
2014 TOTAL MILES: 166.9

Related Posts:
•  Athlete’s Closet January 5K (1/4/14)
•  New Year’s Eve 5K at the YMCA (12/31/13)
•  Athlete’s Closet December 5K (12/14/13)
•  Turkey Trot 5K (11/28/13)
•  Let’s Go Streaking! (11/21/13)
•  Trinity Presbyterian 5K (11/2/13)
•  Oy Vey 5K (10/27/13)
•  Fueled Up & Fired Up 5K (10/19/13)
•  Run-A-Muck 5K (9/22/13)
•  The Challenge Begins: 100 Mile iPad Mini Challenge (7/23/13)