The big day

Alright, so it's been a big weekend full of a lot of excitement and things to do. On Friday I got to leave work early to help set up for the company picnic. The picnic went well, but I spent the majority of my time taking pictures. I guess that's what I get for being on the committee and all. I left early so I could prepare for my big race the next day.

Believe it or not, I had trouble sleeping on Friday night. I was unbelievable excited and pumped about my first race ever taking place the next day. Once I finally got to sleep, I had weird dreams about it. I woke up for good at about 5:45, took a quick cold shower, ate a quick small breakfast, and headed down to the river. There was enough time for me to wander around and see all the sights before the race actually started. Eventually they started grouping us depending on how fast we ran, and we were all huddled together in a block, lined up from fastest to slowest. I purposely started with the slower crew because I love passing people, and I figured it would be more to my advantage to start slow and pass than start fast and be passed. As the race started, the block of people just started bobbing up and down. It was extremely difficult to get into a stride when I was afraid of knocking people down or step on the backs of their feet. The first half mile or so was a really frustrating and slow run. Eventually the crowd started to separate and I started passing people.

I didn't at all know what to expect during the run, but I certainly didn't expect a band to be playing at the 2 and 3 mile mark. I was told about the awesome little shower things the water company plugged into the fire hydrant. They definitely cooled me down, and I definitely needed it considering how insanely hot it was that morning.

Anyway, so I was making my way to big finish and hear my name being called. I look over and see my whole family there cheering me on. It felt good to have them there, and definitely helped in that last quarter mile or so when I was trying to pick up my pace and pass as many people as possible before finishing. It was a really fun experience, for sure. I'm going to try to enter more races, I think.

Here are the results. You can find me in place 805, which means I finished faster than more than half the runners, although my time was 36:04. That means I missed my goal of 35:00, but not by a whole lot. Considering the heat and the forced slow half mile, and the fact that I started way behind the "real" starters, I did pretty darn well. Next year I'll be under half an hour. Mark my words.

Anyway, so after the race I stood around talking to my family a bit, then met up with Alan and Brynn who watched the race, as well as Angie and Katie and Julie who ran the race.

So I got home and took a short nap to prepare for Mullens' bachelor party that night. I managed to sleep well for a few hours, which it turns out I desperately needed so I could party like a rock star that night. And party we did.

We all met at Mullens' house and played some poker, where Fabish and I beat everyone but called it quits because heads up poker with no money on the line is boring. After that, we hit Jimmy's of course, and Fantasyland to see Bridget the Midget, who apparently was replaced at the last second by Little Lacy. It was quite a show, I'll tell ya that much. Throughout the night, we went to Jimmy's twice, tthe Elbo Room, Sullys, Sullivans, and Big Al's. We finsihed the night at Steak 'N Shake, and I got home when the night was about to break into morning, and the birds were already chirping. It was close to 5:00. It's been a long, long, long time since I've done that. And now I'm taking a break and not doing anything of any importance today. I've had a big few days. I deserve it.