MidSummer Night Dream Women's 5K 2014

I heard about this race on Thursday afternoon. Sounded fun so I asked around to a few friends to see who might be willing to run it with me. My head was on crooked, so I thought it was Saturday night. Shannon had a Thursday night commitment and her head was on crooked too, so she declined. Aimee was planning another 5K on Saturday morning and wasn't sure how she felt about doing 2 5Ks back-to-back. I bullied her into it. She told me it was Friday night. Yikes.

So, I got a text from Aimee on Friday afternoon. She signed up. Now I have to do it!! So, I signed up too.

Had to pick up my bib at the race site. So, I drove down and skipped the parking lot to park a few blocks away down a muddy dirt and gravel road. Aimee tried out the parking lot and got a primo spot. Turns out everyone thought the parking lot would be full, so they just bypassed it. Lots of open spots. I walked through the mud, picked up my packet, walked back through the mud to my car to drop off my packet, and back through the mud to the race site. The shirts are kind of cool with wings on the back.

The finisher medal was in the bag. I can go home now, right?
Crap!! Water bottle is in the car. I didn't want to go through the mud again.

Guess what Aimee does for a living . . .

Pre-race selfie

Had a pre-race margarita, but didn't find the martinis. 










Ran into a few other friends doing the race. Jennifer is a fitness BEAST, but she won't admit to that. Loralei is 12 (I think, maybe 10?) and has already done a half-marathon and 12 5Ks. She is going to be a formidable woman!!! 

The run was fun. Lots of women, easy course . . .flat and winding on nicely paved golf trails. Cute guys in short shorts handing out water at multiple water stops. Turns out I didn't need my bottle afterall. Seeing a path of women lighting the way ahead of us was really quite beautiful. So many women dressed up. It was a real party atmosphere. Wings, and glitter, and tutus, and masks. . . .I wore my peacock kit, but it doesn't show up like wings. I'm not so much for dressing up for races, so this was as close as I get.

Aimee and I are exactly the same pace, so it was great. We talked the whole way and I am always more impressed by her the more I learn about her. I am still learning my new Garmin and what all the vibrations mean. I also have old lady eyes and can't read the fine print after a vibration to know if I'm in a walk interval or run interval. So, except for water, we ran the first 2 miles and then were spent. We walked a few times during the third mile and had a sprint to the finish . . .we couldn't let the walker in front of us finish ahead of us.

Had some water. Aimee ate some meat on a stick. Found cookies. Relaxed a while and headed home for an early work day on Saturday. (Post script . . . Aimee did do the 5K on Saturday morning, she ROCKS!!!)

Post-race selfie

A few days later, I saw a FB post on a group I joined that is running Beat the Blerch in Seattle in September. She posted her first 5K picture and I thought I recognized the shirt. Here is some small world stuff . . .she lives in San Antonio, she grew up in the town I was born in and lived for the first 8 years of my life (just 2 years younger than me), she graduated from the same university as several of my family members, her birthday is a few days after mine, her wedding anniversary is a few days before mine. I have a new FB friend, and as soon as our schedules allow it, hopefully a new real-life friend. Now, isn't that a cool way to finish a race?