i'm never sure how parking is going to work at these things (despite the fact that i've been to a bazillion races by now), so i always get there early. plus, i'd missed early packet pick-up because of the disneyland day and still needed to get my bib and t-shirt. luckily, i found parking pretty easily and headed on up towards the check-in table.
see those super bright neon shirts in that picture? yeah, those are the ones they gave away to all the runners. that thing's gonna look awesome in the t-shirt quilt i'm getting ready to make. heh. and with lots of time to kill, i wandered back to the car to drop it off since i wasn't about to throw it on over what i was already wearing.
when i got back from the car, i did a nice leisurely stroll to check things out.
at this booth, i picked up a little festive something to wear. cute, right?
the kids' race was going on, and i wished i could've brought the bean. each kid who crossed the finish line earned a medal, and it would have been fun to watch her run it. but she was soundly sleeping when i left the house, and nobody wanted to get up early to come with me anyway. poo.
finally, it was time to head to the start line. i know this area fairly well since i worked here for a couple of years, but i didn't really know what our route was going to look like. i was hoping my running mojo would kick in as the gun went off, signaling the beginning of the race.
happily, my magical shoes came through for me again and i found myself going the entire 3.1 miles without stopping for any walk breaks. the first part of the route was on a slight incline, which always slows me down, but it wasn't too long before we were turning around and heading back towards the finish - all on a downward slope. woohoo! my nike app was whispering sweet nothings in my ear, giving me updates on my pace as i passed the mile markers, and the numbers she was telling me were quite encouraging. like, REALLY good. check it out:
do you see that? that, my friends, is what is known as a PR. personal record, baby! that's the fastest 5K i've run yet! i was so freaking stoked over this, and i'm not even going to acknowledge the fact that the largely downhill course had a single thing to do with it. nope, nuh-uh. i pretty much just basically kicked that 5K's ass. not that i won anything, of course, but the PR is enough for me.
and as i was catching my breath just past the finish line, my friend lisa found me and we got some random lady to take this for us (and yes, i wore that stupid ass hat the whole way):
obviously, this was a sign that thanksgiving 2012 was getting off to a pretty stinking fabulous start, yes?