I decided to partake in the "Shamrock Shuffle" on St. Patty's Day - and let me take this opportunity to remind you that I live in Antarctica. The tundra. The North. Within a glacier. Beyond the Wall. Azkaban.
Bottom line: brrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Rather than train, I prepared for said race by purchasing super expensive running pants from Lu Lu Lemon (I don't think they're see through) and downloading 3 new jams.
Trying to stay warm in the 18 degree weather before the race began, I took comfort in a previous frigid 5k adventure.
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| lining up on state street! |
Last winter, I agreed
to run a Valentine’s Day 5k with one of my friends. It was 9 degrees outside. I
write it off as one of the worst (sober) decisions of my life.
In the frigid chill of the top of the morning Saturday, I
kept holding on to that day. Surprisingly, repeating It’s twice as warm as it was then over and over did not keep my fingers from feeling like they were going to fall
off. Life conclusion #1: the theory of
relativity only relatively works.
Life conclusion #2: I
need to start celebrating holidays by doing something other than exercising.
Regardless, I started the race strong. In typical “I used to
play basketball” fashion, my first mile was decently fast, and my second only
slightly slower.
It was almost as if my muscles haven’t been atrophying every
day since graduation. Almost.
Since running at a decent pace was getting kind of old, I
decided that, rather than run the third mile, I would crawl backwards to the
finish line. It was truly a joy, because I got to watch everyone that I passed during the first two miles pass me. It was almost like we were becoming friends. Almost.
Life conclusion #3: next time, buy more new songs. Turns out I can’t run a 5k in the time it takes to play “Gold Digger” “Thrift Shop” and “Call Me Maybe.”
One little girl was friendly to me, though. As I was running up a huge hill (side note: there are ZERO hills in Madison. I think they had them man-made just to torture me in this race), I began to walk, and she grabbed my hand briefly as she ran by and said "you can do it." I found the gesture really sweet, and surprisingly inspirational. I followed her to the finish line, and thanked her after the race. If you've never run a 5k, you should. The atmosphere is overall so positive! Everyone is encouraging and cheering one another on. 4,500 people were racing on Saturday, and the culture was nothing but upbeat and supportive, despite the frigid temperatures. It's like being on a team sport with 4,500 people where no one loses :)
I also found it motivating when the guy in the hot dog costume almost passed me in the last half mile. I may have no endurance, but I have dignity! Hope you all enjoyed your St. Patrick's Days!
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