Dam!

(Any excuse to use a euphemism, right?)

A couple weeks ago on Friday night Julie and I loaded up the car with sticky rice and running clothes and headed up to Logan with Elise and Jeff. We met Dad there and after an evening of delicious dinner and homemade apple pie, we rested in preparation for the annual First Dam Run the next day. Jonny and Julia found their way up that morning (seriously, I am ALL about races starting at 10 am... You should consider starting a little later, other 5Ks, and yes, I'm looking at you, Alpine Days...). It wasn't even that terribly cold, I was perfectly comfortable in shorts. Julie suggested quite ambitiously several weeks before that we would try for the 10K this year, and I was definitely up for that, so we spent a few days a week running together training for that. Most of us did the 5K this year, including Jonny, Grandma, and for his first ever, Jeff, and they all did great (Jonny placed third and Jeff placed in the top ten too, and in such a big age group!). Julie and I were absolutely satisfied to have even survived the 10K, which course incidentally actually does go up to the so-named first dam. I had two goals regarding my time for this race: 1) Do 8-minute miles, which was my more realistic ambition, since I had never done a race this long before, and 2) Do the race in under 45 minutes, which is still more than twice my best 5K time. Imagine my surprise, then, when I ran toward that finish line just as the timer passed 44:00! Even better than I had hoped (which makes for a pretty ambitious goal for the next one, I guess...). I placed 2nd in my age group, which is a big deal to me since me placing at all is an unprecedented event, and took 12th place in men, and 17th overall. I admit I was about to die, and also that I was quite frustrated that when I paused my iPod Shuffle at the start of the race to hear the instructions, it never played again for one step of the race (after a while I just gave up on it, even though it sometimes responds after a little rest... it's pretty temperamental these days). Julie came really close to her goal too, so we felt really accomplished after, and really earned that late afternoon nap we took. You did great, sweetheart! A 5K will seem like nothing for us now! Elise, Julia and Dad were excellent athletic supporters, as always.

Recouping

Jeff, Elise, Jonny and Julia headed home after an excellent lunch courtesy of Grandma. Julie, Dad and I stayed one more night, spending time at the house, taking Grandma to see a trippy movie and having leftovers of soup and pie. As always, thanks to Grandma for her hospitality and excellent company.

Julie and Julia having a delightful tea party

Final time: 44:08.4
Miles run: 6.2
Minutes per mile: Approximately 7:06
Number of buckets sweat: 42
Number of songs that played before iPod was unresponsive: 2.4

She's so cute.