First up, the Paint the Streets 5K on July 24. The main theme of this one was HOT. Seriously hot. And humid. As in, we started running at 7am and it was already 90 degrees outside (probably one of the hottest days of the year)- that kind of hot. (Many thanks to Darren for braving the heat to take these photos for me.)
So, needless to say that I wasn't just sweating when I finished. I was entirely gross. I had sweat dripping into and stinging my eyes...so badly that I had to leave before the results were announced. I finished in 30:03, which is about average for a 5K for me.
My next race was the Yellow Ribbon 5K on August 6th- at the Nashville SuperSpeedway!! Yes, I actually got to run a race on a NASCAR track!
The run benefited the Tennessee Army Air National Guard Combat Casualty Relief Fund (try saying that five times fast), so this guy and his crew flew a 2 star General in to the stadium to start us off. In a Blackhawk. Pretty exciting for me as I hadn't been that close to a helicopter since I worked on airborne communications (as a contractor) for the Army.
My Dad shot the race photos for me, including this awesome one of the General flagging us at the start.
We ran this race at night, so it was much cooler than my previous run (but still humid).
Dad played with my camera while I was gone- I love that he took a bunch of detail shots of things like the food they had for us. We usually are pretty well fed at races.
This was actually my worst time EVER in a 5K (31:08). But I'll try to ignore that...and point out my new running skirt. I love it! I'm thinking of getting another here- they have the cutest little red and black plaid one.
I was really, really tired when I finished, probably because I'd worked all day and then driving from Huntsville to Nashville and THEN went for a run.
I just had to include this shot...so cool to see the Blackhawk take off!
And that brings me to my last race- the Monte Sano 5K on September 4th. This race was a big deal to me, because I ran it on the one year anniversary of my first knee surgery. After all the physical therapy (and the second surgery) I am so glad to be almost back to normal.
I finally found something to wear besides the turquoise running top- yay!! It was an absolutely perfect day for a run- not to hot, and not to humid.
Although I did plan ahead and wear a headband this time...just in case.
I finished this one in 30:27- the clock says 40:27 because the men started 10 minutes before the women (the course is very narrow in some places and they were trying to prevent overcrowding). Not bad. Not great, but not bad.
I have one more race in October (the day before Halloween, no less!) and then I'm going to take a nice, looooong break from running. I have time for either it or Taekwondo, and right now kicking people in the head sounds like more fun. :)