Sunday, May 23, 2010

Run for a Reason

Woke up bright and early at 5:30am today!!! I ddin't need to get up until 6:30 but I woke up excited like a kid on Christmas morning and couldn't get back to sleep. Nicky Gavin and I arrived to the race around 7:15am. Upon arrival we walked through a small park and I saw a family of black swans!

It was a bit chilly this morning and cloudy as well. I snapped a couple of pictures of us before the race but then we checked our bags and took off to the starting lines.



I got in the line for the 4.5K and Nicky and Gavin got in the line for the 14.5K. The start lines were on the same road but opposing each other. I was pretty cool when the buzzer started the race and all of the 4.5K runners ran past all of the 14.5K runners cheering each other on.

I ran up and down 3 MAJOR hills. I had nagging side cramps but nothing bad enough to force me to stop and stretch (thank goodness). After the hills we ran around the WACA (Western Australia Cricket Association) stadium and then finally entered the stadium and to the finish line in the middle. I sprinted my bum off for the last half kilometer and finished in 25 minutes. By the way 4.5K is about 2.7 miles. I grabbed a water bottle and fruit and did my stretches on the lawn. The weather was beautiful for running. It was cool enough to not break a sweat while running but not too cold either. After the hard run in it started raining just a little bit. It was a nice refresher. I went and collected my bag and then waited for Nicky and Gavin to finish their race.

Just to reflect, it was really nice to run today. I have never ran a race like that before. It was great because it felt good to run and know I could do it, to run with 10,000 other people at the same time, and make a difference by raising money for various charities.

I made my way towards the entrance of the stadium. It was pretty cool to see Nicky and Gavin round the corner into the stadium and cheer them on. They ran the entire way and held hands as they crossed the finish line and gave each other a big kiss. Unfortunately I was unable to get my camera out and turned on in time for their moment. They finished in 1 hour and 33 minutes!!!

We took the train back home (free for all runners for the day!) By the time we got back the cold weather had sunk in. So I had a giant mug of hot chocolate when we got back.

Nicky and Gavin chilled out for the rest of the day. I don't blame them because their legs were pretty jello-like. I went out to lunch with a friend and we ordered a tasting plate. This usually involves fruit, veggies, cheese, and crackers. Not this time. It was all deep fried greasyness. Not what you want after a run.

There is a coffee drive through place called MuzzBuzz. These little shops are set up all over the place. Today I decided that I wanted to get a re-usable coffee thermos from one of these places. We went to 2 different ones and neither had re-usable coffee thermoses in stock. So I will try again later.

Made my way back home and took a nice nap. Then I woke up in time for dinner. I made myself some hashbrowns, mixed veggies, and steak!!! For dessert I had what was left of the s'mores supplies.

Mike and Andrew got a hold of some sparklers and had an awesome idea to place the sparklers on a toy helicopter's blades. So then we went outside and lit the sparklers and tried to get the helicopter to fly. Didn't really have much luck with it flying but we had quite a laugh at the whole event.

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