Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Bumblebee runners rule!



Saturday night brought snow, but Sunday was still a great day for a 5K.  I have been wanting to do a race in my bumblebee costume and Sunday I got my chance.  The Monster Mini 5K was scheduled to be run on Sunday morning and the report came through that despite the early snowstorm the course was clear and the race was on.  We showed up early enough to find parking and see the kids 1K.  Everyone was in costumes.  It was very exciting.  I could not believe how many bumblebees, ladybugs, and fairies were at the race.  The race officials had declared the 70s the default theme.  I found the 70s costumes vaguely disturbing.  The main thing I guess is that everyone was there to run, so who cares what they were wearing.



My goal was to have mile splits under 8 minutes.  To say that we sprinted off the line is an understatement.  I had lined up with the 8 minute folks.  It seemed like we were doing closer to a 7 minute miles for the first few block.


Check out that speed!  We are only about 50 feet beyond the start and look at all of that running room.  We really were sprinting off the line!

I checked my speed after about 4-5 uphill blocks and settled in.  The downtown roads were under repair and no one was calling out the 4 inch asphalt shelf across the road.  I did not see anyone go down, but it was a wakeup call reminding me that pre-running a course, especially a 5k course, is a good idea.  I settled in and had a great first mile around 7:30.  My second mile seemed to be around 15:45 or so.  My final ended up being 24:20 with 7:52 mile averages.  I had done it!  I wanted to see how my summer race season was winding up and where I was going into the winter race season.



My daughter had made this charm for my husband for his bike races.  He passed it off to me on Sunday morning.  It really did help me "Go Faster!"  Try pinning a charm onto your race bib.  It may be just what you need.

After the race we headed to Wholefoods to do a little shopping.  I went in my bee costume.  They were a race sponsor after all and it was Halloween weekend.  When you are a Bumblebee in a food store where would you stop?  A photo in among the honey seemed too good to pass up!


1 comment:

  1. Hey- Bumblebee runners DO rule! I did a 5k in a bee costume last year... I'm thinking about doing a longer race in one again next year. It won't be around Halloween time, but who cares, right? :) I plan to attempt a half ironman or even a full, and thought a bee costume in such a race would BEE hysterical. We shall see :)

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