Wednesday, March 20, 2019

2019 Lucky Charm 5K Race Recap!

A medal for a 5K?  Yes please!

On Saturday several Renegades made the hour+ drive to Mo's Irish Pub in Katy, which is west of Houston,  to run the second annual Lucky Charm 5K.  Being that it was sponsored by a bar, the t-shirt that they gave out made sense:
Kinda wish it didn't have such a drinking connection, but hey...it was from a bar.  Side note: It was a challenge to find a St. Patrick's-themed t-shirt that didn't have a drinking theme on it.  I don't drink but I'm fine if you drink...I just don't want to promote it, if that makes sense.

Karen, Cary, and Cristy ran this race last year and had such good things to say about it that Diane and I decided to run it this year.  Jeff spectated alongside Jimmymeow, which ended up being nice for us because it was cold before the race began but we could wear our jacket and sweatshirt until just before it started; then we handed everything over to Jeff.
I saw these shirts on Amazon and knew that we needed to wear them for the race.  Diane's says WORLD'S TALLEST LEPRECHAUN while mine says I'M NOT SHORT I'M LEPRECHAUN SIZE.  Pretty perfect for us, wouldn't you say?
Of course we bought appropriately-themed headbands for the race.  None of them budged, either - even when we ran into a headwind for nearly a mile!

Karen was super nice and went to packet pickup in Katy on Thursday, getting all of our bibs and t-shirts, so we didn't have to stand in line on race day.  She even delivered them right to our car on Saturday morning!

We didn't have to wait long for the race to begin - in fact the national anthem was being sung as we walked to the start line.  There were nearly 800 runners/walkers/strollers but it didn't feel crowded, which was great.  The weather was perfect for running with a feels like temp of 50 and a north wind of 7 mph.  The starting horn blew and we strolled up to the cross the line:
I do believe, in all my years of racing, that this race had the most dressed up people I've ever seen.  So many shades of green!  Plus we saw one man wearing a short black dress covered with gold coins - he was quite the jazzy pot of gold!

I went into this race having had two great runs that week so I hoped for a good race but with me you never know.  At least I wasn't super nervous as we started running, although my face was showing a little trepidation in the beginning:
 I ran unencumbered - no earphones, no handheld water bottle, no phone.  It was a nice change.

We started in the Costco parking lot and then meandered around some nice apartment areas, doing a loop before we headed back to the finish.  The route was F-L-A-T and you know I love a flat route!  It was interesting because it was somewhere new to me, plus there were so many runners in crazy St. Patrick's garb that there was always something to focus on.

Diane and I ran the first 1.5 miles straight through, no intervals.  My calves were really tight which was weird; they never loosened up.  I swear, it's always something!  We took a short walk break and then ran on; a couple more walk breaks interspersed with the remaining distance and we almost done.  We made the turn toward the finish line and put it into high gear; without saying anything to each other, we both decided to try and beat the man who was ahead of us:
The sprints I've been doing at the end of my runs paid off here. 
 
Is it a race if the person you're racing doesn't know they're racing you?
 Go
 GO
 GO!

So that was fun.  We did beat him even though my photographer stopped taking pictures at the crucial moment.  Afterward I got a stitch in my side along with a medal, but it was worth it.  I had hoped to finish the race in less than 40 minutes, but that didn't happen.  Still, I was over two minutes faster from my last 5K, so I'm showing improvement, as my elementary school report card often said.
Karen, me, Diane, Cindy, Brian, Logan, and Cary.
Logan needed to hydrate - riding in a stroller for a 5K is serious business!
We're all winners - well, WE think we are, anyway.  That was the first time I've stood on a winner's podium...probably the last, too, unless I sneak on one again.

After the race we went to breakfast at a retro restaurant called Snooze - the decor reminded both Jeff and I of Cabana Bay at Universal Studios Orlando:
The waitress delivered a tiny bucket of cream with my coffee - how cute!  I didn't think to stop her from automatically bringing cream with my first cup because I drink it black, but I'm glad she did just for the squee factor.
I ordered breakfast tacos and the filling was so good!  The tortillas were too greasy so I didn't eat them, but yum on everything else.  A charred lime with seasoning was included on the plate; squeezing fresh lime juice over eggs was delicious!  Never thought of doing that but I recommend it.

There was a Fleet Feet running store a couple of doors down from the restaurant, so after breakfast we all wandered over.  Several people bought shoes and we enjoyed poking around all of the running gear; I didn't buy anything but I saw some super cute running tops. 

This was a really nice morning; it's been a while since we've had a Renegade road trip where we weren't all freezing to death and as a result trying to rush through things, or missing it entirely due to illness.  And I daresay I'd sign up for this race again next year!

18 comments:

  1. That sounds like it was so much fun! I'm so happy you got to see improvement - a well deserved prize for all the hard work you've been putting in on your fitness. I also think that now you've had a less-anxious and more improved 5K, you'll continue to see gains. Good for you!!

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  2. What a fun day you all had! It was fun to watch you guys racing a guy that didn't know you were racing him. The breakfast tacos look fantastic.

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    1. I've been recreation the breakfast taco filling (to a degree, not with hash browns and so much cheese) at home this week and dang, it's delicious!

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  3. Sounds like a blast! Congrats on your 2 minute improvement!

    I do drink, but I just don't get the whole drinking themed holiday that is St Patrick's Day. And Halloween. And Cinco de Mayo...

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    1. I am 100% in agreement with you here Wendy! I don't even remember being drinky on those days when I was much younger.

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  4. Great job! I ran a St. Patrick’s Day race too but there wasn’t nearly as much dressing up. I had a green tutu that I left in the car! Wish I had as many pictures!

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  5. Congrats on the race! That's excellent!

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  6. What a fun race!!! And yes it is still a race even if the other person doesn’t officially know your racing them!!!!

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  7. I love themed races and you guys did this one up right with those shirts! Love the fun medal and that it was sponsored by an Irish pub, ( even though I do t drink either nor would I promote drinking on a shirt either).
    Congrats on the improvement!

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  8. What a fun day! Logan looking parched after his 5K ride is too cute.

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  9. What a fun race! This almost makes me want to run another 5k...almost. :)

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  10. Two mins faster than your last 5K hot dayum!!!! Nice work!!! And yay for a warm day to have fun with friends.

    I so wish we could see the guy in the coin dress. That sounds like a riot.

    I love the tees you found! And think the medal and shirt are cute. I don't get the drinking theme with holidays either. People I knew were so excited to drink last week!

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