two in a row

At the 5K I ran the other week-end my lover played with my camera and enjoyed himself, so I decided to give him another go. Not wanting to interrupt the string of big runs again, I picked a little race on Saturday night - the inaugural Nob Hill run on former Route 66. It did not seem wise to do a race (even if only a 5K) less than twelve hours before a long run, but if it made the long run more difficult that would be good training.

It looked like a "let's have fun in Nob Hill" kind of race. The street was closed off, the music was playing, the mood was high. I wore the dark pink technical shirt I had won in a drawing at the last race. Even though I hate pink with a vengeance, I thought it would be good to try something new. I have not run before at night, or seen so many restaurants in a race before. It smelled of steak up and down the course. I did not have a good race. I walked a few times. I never walked in a 5K before. Felt lousy about it too.

In the end, I shook the feeling off. The race did not matter. What counted was the big run next day. We had ice cream and peaches that night. Next morning I ran eighteen miles, heat and tense muscles and all, and was content.