Runners: Open Thread (and Race Report!)

Today, I went out and ran 10K for the Worldwide Festival of Races! As of right now, I’m in fifth place for the 10K race, and first place for women! Of course, the Festival lasts all weekend, so I doubt I’ll stay in that position for long. Still, go me!

I did my 10K while running with the running club: first a mile, to warm up, then 6.2 more miles along Lake Michigan downtown. I finished the race component in 53:29, which isn’t half bad! It was warmer than I hoped it would be (already 60 degrees when I woke up at 6 AM), and in my efforts to expand on the group’s route to encompass enough distance, I managed to route and reroute myself up a couple of really challenging hills. I may completely lose all credibility among nonrunners by saying this, but…I actually really sort of like uphills. Not the really slow, shallow ones that go on forever, so much, but give me a really steep incline that goes for a few hundred yards, and some switch in me flips to “primal.” My heart’s pounding in my ears, and my legs are pushing as hard as they can, and I just feel so powerful I could scream. Arrrrrrgh, yeah!

Wait, whatcha doing with that white coat?

Anyway, loads of fun. And there’s still time to sign up and run, if you want! Do the “Kick the Couch” 5K, if you haven’t put in the training to do 10K (or the half-marathon, even)! There’s even a virtual “goody bag” with an awesome free mp3 to download. If you don’t race, go for a run, anyway. Let me know about it!