Glow Run 5K

So I did it. Last night was the Glow Run 5K in Wichita. After not running AT ALL for well over 3 months, I went out and did it. It was hard, and I felt like I was going to die a few times, but I did it. And I'm looking at this as my kick start, because once the kids are back in school I'm going to be out running for real again.

So anyway, here are a few pictures....

Getting my bling on...

I got these funky flower things that are actually supposed to be used to decorate flip flops, pulled them apart, and put them all through my hair - and in a few of my teammates' hair too. OK, actually The Dude put them in my hair - he was having fun getting all of the glow-bling in place.

Pre-race potty break. You know, peeing while wearing a tutu is NOT easy. For the record, I did remove my fingers for that.

Getting ready to run...and yes, I am holding a glowing axe.

It was a bit crowded. Those are all of the runners who were ahead of me.

And all of the ones who were behind me. 3387 runners total, according to the official results.

I did it! I crossed the finish line!

We were even treated to a huge fireworks display. OK, it might have actually been from the baseball game that was across the street, but still, the timing and location were perfect.

I couldn't have done it without him. The Dude encouraged me, got me there, cheered me on, and acted as the official photographer for our team, not to mention that his mother watched the boys so that we could go kid-free. Thanks, babe!
So, how did I do?

The race itself was fun. It seemed a bit more disorganized than most, but I think it's also one of the biggest ones that I've even been in - and with that many people it's hard to stay organized. The course was nice - it was flat and other than a set of railroad tracks there weren't any really tricky spots. They had glow stations set up along the way where you could stop and take your picture under blacklights, but I skipped those. I was a little annoyed at the people who were cheating, but I was only competing against myself - they were just morons. And thanks to my playlist that included Dropkick Murphys, Pam Tillis, Black Eyed Peas, Survivor, Kernkraft 400, and Rodney Atkins, I was able to pretty much tune everyone out and focus on what I needed to do.

My final official time was 44:26.6. Not my best, but far from my worst. And considering that I literally have not run a bit since the half-marathon, I'm ok with it. I placed 2825th out of 3387 runners, so I beat about 16.6% of them. Out of my age group (40-45 females), I was 184th out of 222, so faster than about 17.1%.

Today, I hurt. Not quite as bad as I thought that I would, but I can definitely feel it. It's definitely a sign that I have to do more to prepare for the next one!