Blarney Stone 5K

What better way to celebrate St. Paddy's Day than with a lovely 5K?! The weather in Nebraska is always iffy around this time of year (ex: in the 60's today, snow tomorrow) so I wasn't sure what to expect for this race. Lucky for me - and the rest of us - it was a gorgeous day! It was sunny for the first time in who-knows-when, and it got over 50 degrees. In fact I showed up at the race site around 5PM and was surprised to find myself wishing I had sunglasses. The thought of bringing them hadn't even crossed my mind.

I headed to the race straight after work. I had to get there early because I still hadn't registered. I had plenty of time to attach my timing chip & bib, as well as have a pre-run snack.

I was happy to meet up with some friends for the race! Kelli and I go way back - we've been friends for over 10 years! Kelli, Bryson, & I all ran this race last year, too. They told me about a few other races that they've done and I'm excited to join them this year! I always feel kinda weird taking photos of myself at races when I'm there alone. :/

The official race times haven't been posted yet, but I'd say the race went well! My clock time was 27:10, but I'm pretty sure it read 1:10 when I crossed the start. Either way, it's faster than last year! I'm not a very fast runner, but I wanted to try hard so I had a true baseline 5K time. The trail that this run was on is quite narrow, so it was a huge hassle going around people. Near the end I started feeling it - mainly in my stomach. I think I need to research the best foods for a runner's stomach because I don't want to get cramps every time I run! When I first started running this would happen to me all the time. However, through marathon training, I don't remember it being an issue. I'll have to go back to my running log to see what I was doing differently. Anyway, during the 3rd mile I felt myself slowing down and wanting to take it easy. But then I told myself, "No! You're more than half way finished, just push through and you'll feel better once you cross the finish line. You'll regret it if you slow down now!" It really worked! I was a little afraid of yacking (I actually gagged while crossing the finish line - so glad no one was taking my picture!), but I knew the feeling would pass and I'd be kicking myself if I finished this race feeling like I could have done it faster. I'm quite pleased with my performance and am looking forward to trying to beat my time.

After the race, we were served pizza & beer - it was St. Patrick's Day, after all! I ended up having 2 super-yummy Irish Reds from Nebraska Brewing Company. The thought of choosing a Miller Lite over this stuff blows my mind. Oh well, more of the good stuff for me! I also had 2 slices of mediocre cheese pizza. Luckily it was nice out, because dinner was served outside. We definitely got a chill after 2 hours of sitting in our sweaty clothes while the sun was setting, but I'll take what I can get. The hugest 'flying V' of geese flew overhead as we were hanging out. So cool!

After the race, I went home and showered and then I was on "wrangling duty". My friends get pretty crazy on St. Patrick's Day. They take the 17th & 18th off of work every year. I went with them once, but after the first 4 hours I was ready to go home and they had just started. It ended up not being that much fun for me, so I decided that I'll drive people home on Paddy's Day instead. Luckily it was pretty easy to get everyone convinced it was time to go home when I arrived, so my job wasn't difficult. I tried taking a few pictures but mainly just got blurs of green.

I got everyone home and to bed without incident (i.e. puking). They were all still sleeping soundly when I left for work this morning. I'd say all in all it was a fine day.