St. Paddy's 5K

28th of March 2017

I should have written about this a week ago, but March is a busy month. I ran the first St. Paddy's 5K put on in Des Moines on March 19th. I didn't beat my time from the Leprechaun Chase, but it was a course that had more inclines. It was fun nonetheless. It was cold, but it wasn't as bad as the Leprechaun Chase. Temps were at least in the 30's. I wore pretty much the same outfit. It was St. Patrick's Day themed just like the Leprechaun Chase, and with the weather being the same, why change it? It was great to get out and about again, but I can't wait until it gets warmer out to enjoy it more. I didn't train for the cold like I should have. All of my training was inside, so I'm sure that had some to do with my performance. I finished a little over 45 minutes, but I did finish. I'll always finish since there's no reason why I shouldn't.

I ran probably as much as the Leprechaun Chase, but I had shin splints developing. I was wearing KT tape, and I don't need a wax job anymore. That did help a lot more than I thought it would. Taking it off was the worst part, and I knew it would be. I didn't hurt too bad during the run because I took advice from people at the gym I go to for training (Downtown Anytime Fitness if you're wondering). They told me icing it should help, and work was cold enough. I can't thank the people at Anytime Fitness Downtown enough. The pain did flair up, but a week later and continuing the advice they gave me, for the most part, I think it's gone. It's better anyways. I laid off the treadmill and switched back to the elliptical for a bit. I'm back on the treadmill, but I hit a rut (another story). In addition, more use of other cardio machines that they have.

At this run, I ran into a lot of people that I knew, and that was great to see. I even saw people I work with, Kevin & Mollie Cooney. Kevin was in the 5K with his daughter, Meredith whom I got to meet. She is an avid runner, and she gave me some insight on where to find out about more runs. She wasn't done with running after the 5K. I admire her willingness to keep going. I hope to get that spirit someday. I ran into a friend from school, John, who usually runs, but he volunteered for this one instead. It was great catching up with him, and he had some advice for me as well. I also ran into an old friend from roller derby (which I miss lots). Chuck and his wife Suzy participated as well. Chuck has lost some weight, and he's doing well for himself. It was great catching up with him. I miss hanging out with him.

I don't know if this one will come back next year, and I don't know if I'll run it. I hate the cold, but I hate being out of shape. I hope it does come back next year just because it was a lot of fun. It was a smaller 5K as far as people with a little over 500 people participating. However, I don't know how many people knew about it. I came across it on Facebook. I think the weather troubled some people as it did for the Leprechaun Chase. The Leprechaun Chase caps theirs as 1,500 participants, and I heard somewhere that 500 of them didn't run because of the weather. I did run, so this is a shout out to those that ran regardless of the weather. If I didn't spend money to run, I probably wouldn't have ran (or should I say walk). My next run is on April 8th, which is the Breakaway Run put on by the Iowa Wild. I'm looking forward to this one since it's a different course. I hope to see more people I know there.