A Couple that Runs Together .... Picks up Schwag Together!!

BJ and I participated in our first race together yesterday, the Tyler Curtis Memorial 5K, and it was also my first 5K in 6 months (did I mention I'm slow and I don't really like 5Ks???). Even though the 5K distance is not my favorite, I do like participating in local communtiy events, especially for a good cause. I also knew it was going to be fun to race with BJ even though I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to keep up with him the whole way.

The race was in an adorable neighborhood southwest of Little Rock that we actually liked so much we added it to our list of places for our realtor to investigate. The course was run on paved streets and had "rolling" hills which is a very appropriate description. It wasn't horribly hilly, but just enough here and there to really challenge you. We both planned to do a 4:1 run/walk strategy and he was hoping to keep the run sections at 8 min miles, while I thought of staying more at a 9 minute pace. Of course in the heat of the moment and the excitement of the race start, I just ran with him for the first mile and a quarter .... then got a horrible side stitch and had to drop back. He was able to bring it in for yet another PR of 28:45 - an excellent time given that both of his prior 5Ks were on flat as pancake courses. And I was able to put up a respectable (for me) 30:47 which I'm not going to complain about given that my side stitch continued the whole last mile and a half of the race.

I'm pretty sure that had I paced myself better in the beginning, I would have been able to break that elusive 30 minute barrier, but hey - you win some, you lose some, and sometimes you learn to just let your husband-to-be run faster than you.

The best part of the race was the chance to catch up with my Hot Legs running friends and meet some new ones!! My work schedule since moving back to Little Rock has prevented me from joining the group runs, so it was awesome to see everyone who came out to volunteer and run the race.

BJ and I also stuck around for the door prizes and were stoked when he won dinner for two at a fancy restaurant in the Heights and I won two rounds of golf. BJ also ended up with second in his age group, so all in all it was a most productive day of racing!