My First 5k

Around New Years I decided it would be a good goal to run a 5k. What better one to run in the one sponsored by Sweetwater??? So, the Sweetwater 420 Fest 5k was my goal. I guess when you're running a race like this, it's important to take it easy the night before and have a good night sleep. Nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Friday night was my friend, Erica's 30th surprise birthday party. I played my part by offering her non-existent free Braves tickets for Friday night. Shockingly she turned me down. Good thing, because the Braves were playing in Pittsburgh, but I knew I'd get away with it. That made things fun for me! The party was fun, I managed to survive a Rochelle & Stevens' house party with only 1 beer! Who knew! So I did take it easy in that respect. But, not so much in the good night sleep part. I was there until about 2am. Oops! Oh well, for me, 6 hours is probably considered a good night sleep anyways!

So then Saturday I officially ran my first 5k...and I survived. Although, I should use the term "ran" loosely. I ran some. Walked, well, a lot. No one will be accusing me of being in great shape anytime soon, but I finished in 46:18. There were TONS of running uphill. Lauren called it, and I quote, "the hardest 5k ever, pretty much all uphill." So if Lauren says it, I' believe it. I knew better than to try and run the uphill portions. So I walked those and tried to run the flat stuff. And I did, for the most part.

The race started at 11am, which was nice, because these things have a habit of starting way too early in the morning. But there were soo many people, parking was ridiculous. I got to the area at about 10:30 and didn't actually park until about 10:55. Then I had to walk a friggin MILE just to get to the starting line. Seriously! There's no need for a mile-long warm up! Not cool. I met up with Tara, who was running the race with a stroller, pushing Riley the whole time. I had no idea that Tara was gonna run the whole thing like that! Jeez!!!! I kept up with her the first couple of minutes, she was literally weaving in and out of runner traffic with a stroller. It was fun to watch, but I needed a walking break. I mixed it up with running and walking. I can't seem to find a map of the race online anywhere, but when the race finally got to the intersection of Moreland/Freedom Parkway, there were a couple of girls out there cheering everyone on. "Good job! Only 1 more mile! Good job!" (rinse, repeat). So I looked at my watch, and was like, wow! I can finish this thing in about 30 minutes! This isn't so bad at all! After another 15 minutes or so, I got skeptical. Another guy was cheering people on (I assume someone's paying these people or at least giving them free beer) and he said "Good job! Only six-tenth's of a mile to go!" I was PISSED! I know I didn't take 15 minutes to run 0.40 miles. Oh well, just gotta keep on going. I did. We got to where North Ave hits Candler Park (right where I parked) and I knew we were so close. One more block and I would probably be able to see the finish line!!! I can still do this in under 40 minutes. So I kept going when I noticed something strange. A right turn!!!! Nooooooooooooooooo!!!!! Those teasing bastards had us heading right for the finish line, and then BAM. Not so fast my friend! Less motivated, and more frustrated, I pretty much walked the rest of the way. According to my watch, I finished in 46:18.

Here's me just before the finish line fake-running for the camera. My goal was to beat that dude with the stroller. Mission accomplished!

Crossing the finish line!!!! (Why do the 2 clocks have different times? ) For the record, remember, I started late!

Collecting the ever important free beer ticket!

From left to right (not including babies or Jill) Lauren's dad, Holly, Seth, me, Sarah, Jason, Tara, Lauren, another Jason, Josh.

Babies: Sage, Riley, Violet.

Lucky for you thats not quite the end of the story! After all of this, and after my one beer, I had to head home to get ready for kickball. Surprisingly enough, i had plenty of energy for it. My legs were tired but the rest of me was ready to go. So I made it to kickball, where my team, "Boobs on First, Balls on Second" pulled out an 11-8 victory in our last at bat and can finally say we won a game. Even after all that I felt good. We all went to Atkins Park for our post-game tradition, and I finally got some food in me, along with a beer. For those keeping score, that's 2 beers on the day (yes, it's important). After eating, another kickball tradition follows...flip-cup! Here's where the day goes downhill. In a hurry! After about 5-6 rounds (you drink basically a shot - an ounce or two - of beer each round) I felt my stomach saying I'm full. I really felt like I just needed to let out a good burp. I probably should've stopped playing until the burp came, but I didn't want to let my flip-cup team down! So...one more round. Ughhhh. After that, I went and sat down, I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to burp. When finally, I did. Only, I did a little more than burp. Luckily I was able to grab a plastic cup real quick and there went lunch. Somehow I pulled it off without anyone noticing (I think?). From there, it was off to the bathroom for "burp" #2. I finally had enough. Luckily home is about a mile away. I got to my couch, laid down for about an hour and felt better. Took a shower. Went back to the couch and pretty much stayed there til Sunday night. All in all (other than a sunburn) it was a good day.

5k + kickball + X + flipcup = -X

where X = lunch!