Saturday, April 9, 2011

Blue Bell Fun Run (Race Report)

We got up very early this morning to drive out of town for a race. It was sponsored by Blue Bell Ice Cream and the ads promised as much ice cream as we could eat after the race (for runners and spectators.) Works for me! So while it was only me and Chickie running this time, we made it a family event.

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Aaaah....now that's a beautiful truck.

First was Chickie's 1-mile race. We're actually wondering if it was a bit shorter than a mile based on the times kids were achieving...but even if it was shorter, I'm still impressed with Chickie's endurance. She ran--and often ran fast--with only one short walk break. She finished in 10:01!

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Chickie, Mommy, and some random kid, about to finish the 1-miler

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Chickie with her cool participant medal, which she's still wearing as I write this, over five hours later

Later it was my turn to run a 5K. I ran it in 29:06, which is a PR (Personal Record) for me, by 3 seconds. But boy was it a hard way to get a PR. I started out way too fast and couldn't even stick with my normal 4 minute run/1 minute walk pattern. I ended up taking extra walk breaks in the last half. I'm still happy with the time--a PR is a PR!--but I look forward to pacing myself better next time so I don't feel so spent halfway through!

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Me, about to finish. I actually really like this photo. I don't have big muscles, but I love how I can see them flexing in my right calf! They may not be big, but they're doing their job!

After my race, we enjoyed frozen treats! Yum, yum, yum.

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For those of you who happen to live in my general vicinity (most of you know who you are), this is a fun family event--a great way to create memories. There is also a 10K and a four-person 10K relay. A lot of the 5K participants were walkers; some brought their dogs or strollers. (Because of all the walkers, I was in the top 10% of my age group. I may never again rank that high again.... I'll take it!)

I doubt we'll want to make the drive every year, but we may someday do this race again...and maybe next time some friends will join us!

5 comments:

Laurel said...

Wonderful post Beth, and too cute pictures!!

WendyBird said...

Love the pictures! Your race photo is awesome! Great RR!

Call Me Cate said...

It looks like everyone had a great day! Well, maybe everyone but the E Engineer - no proof that he had any ice cream!

Eternal Lizdom said...

Definitely sounds like a fun event!! Way to go Chickie!!

Eternal Lizdom said...

And I love that photo of you, too. And I gotta say... even though you're way faster than me, it helps me to know that you struggled in a 5K. Does that make sense?