Today was the Hot Chocolate Run in Northampton, MA. I ran this race last year with Justin, but this year we fielded a larger contingent. My wife and girls came for the race, and I ran with Justin and Christina, Val, Kathy, and Doug. Kathy’s family was able to join us too. After the race we all headed over to Fitzwilly’s and had a nice post-race beverage and lunch.
A brief recap only today. I ran what I thought was a mediocre race. I just didn’t ever feel like I was in my race groove. That being it said, it did start to snow a little bit somewhere between mile 1 and 2 and flurry or not, I thought that was really cool. I was hoping for some snow prior to the race.
I was also hoping for a somewhat better race time. Last week I was running mile repeats on the track in the 6:55 range, so why can’t I just string them together and come up with a sub 21 5K? Well, for one I guess is that my track workout was completely flat and the course naturally had some hills. The other obvious reason is that I had 800 meters to jog and recover between each of those mile repeats. Despite my lackluster day, compared to last year, I shaved off 2:24. I finished in 22:17 and placed 216 out of 1618. More importantly though I had a very enjoyable day with friends and family.
This race is the annual fundraiser for Safe Passage, an organization that provides support to women and children dealing with domestic violence. This year’s race raised $90,000 (a new record!!!!).
I went to bed last night feeling fine, but this morning I awoke with my nagging left lateral knee pain. My leg also felt a little weak coming down the stairs. I need to be more diligent about my IT Band stretching, because it is only going to get worse as my mileage increases for February’s marathon training.
It dawned on me that this was my last race for 2009. Kind of depressing. I managed to run 26 races in 2009. So how did I cheer myself up? Picked out my first 2010 race of course. Justin and I and hopefully Kathy and Val too are going to the Hangover Classic on New Year’s Day. What could be a better way to ring in the New Year than running a 10K with some friends and then jumping into the Atlantic Ocean Polar Bear Plunge-Style? Having that event sponsored by a beer company of course!
Below are some pictures. Click to enlarge:
Best buds before the race
My Oldest
Practicing for her future on the podium
Justin on the right
Me in Red
Chris coming in for her finish
Val and Kathy striding to the finish
Doug on the left
Aubrey and I
McKenna with the godparents
Awesome photos. I girls are too cute and I think it’s outstanding that you take them to your races and even race with them. They will be wanting to run in no time!!!!!
Michelle/http://runningdowndreams.wordpress.com/
Great pics. Sorry you fell a bit short of your race goal today, but it was a face 5K regardless. The Hangover Classic sounds like definite fun.
The Hot Chocolate Run sounds like about the nicest thing I’ve ever heard. Is there, in fact, hot chocolate waiting at the finish line?
I sympathize with your frustration about feeling like you have a faster 5K in you based on your training efforts. I have yet to break 50 minutes in a 10K, despite my usual group-run pace being somewhere around 8-minute miles. I usually chat during my group runs. Go figure … I’ve gotta believe those fast races are lurking somewhere inside us, and will pop out when we least expect it.
Yes Amy, there is in fact Hot Chocolate waiting for you at the finish line. Instead of the usual t-shirt, the organizers of this race commission the same local artist every year to come up with new variation on a theme of a custom made hot chocolate mug. They made 3500 this year (for the runners and walkers).
Thanks for commiserating with me about race frustration. Truth be told, I think I got what I deserved because I feel like I’ve been dogging it lately. Partly because of my left ITB issues, partly because of my school schedule, and partly because of untimely bad weather. I need to step it up soon though, because my next marathon is on Feb 28th. Great to hear from you. I’m headed to your blog now.