Last Saturday I pulled out my bunny ears and my running jacket to participate in the Bunny Rock 5K in Chicago, IL. I was surprised at how chilly it was that morning, because I know the weather lady had said that it was going to be in the 50's... but thanks to a chilly wind off the lake it felt a lot cooler. Nonetheless, I was pumped... My first outdoor race this year!
My hubby and my daughter do not come to many of my events but I was really happy that they were able to come and support my efforts. I like not being a lone runner... even though I am a lone runner it is nice to have a cheer section. My hubby snapped a pic of munchie and I walking to the start area and then a cute pic before I jumped in with the crowd of runners to begin. And yes I am wearing bunny ears and a princess headband. I am a princess bunny... actually just need the sweat absorption... this chunky girl sure can sweat.
The start area was a bit hectic... we were supposed to be in corrals based on speed but that did not happen, instead hundreds of people just clustered up runners and walkers alike. I find this frustrating because it took me a good couple of minutes to navigate between the walkers since I ended up way in the back of the pack. I don't mind walkers.. shoot I walk too, but some courtesy should be relayed to everyone.. much like on the highway... slower traffic keep right! But no.... slow traffic covered the whole relatively narrow path. Grr... Here my hubby managed to snap a few pics of me trying to navigate the cluster. Beep Beep people Chunky Mother Princess Bunny Runner coming through!!!!
Once I got clear I got into a pretty good pace. The race was in Montrose Harbor so it was a very pleasant scene. I was really enjoyed the first mile or so. But the wind and chill caught up with my nose. Man was it runny. I kept trying to regain my runny nose but it was running faster than my legs! Needless to say I walked a good bit. Just could not get into a good breathing rhythm with the snot. Plus, well it was also my first time this year running on something other than the treadmill. Treadmills make it really easy to maintain pace without thought and there is no wind.
Anyway, I managed to get a nice slow jogging pace again when I started seeing people who had already finished the race walking back for whatever reason (Don't know why this bothers me). So that lit a small fire in my booty to get done. Nearing the finish I found my hubby and munch who cheered me on which catapulted me to the finish. Nothing is better than your little girl yelling "Go mommy" and then of course her telling everyone willing (or not) to listen "That's my mommy, see runs fast!" To my 4 year old I am like a kenyan... You know I am not going to correct her anytime soon :).
I must say I was happy in the end with my performance. My goal was to at least finish under 45 mins, and I did. My official chip time was 44:19:68... that works out to a 14:18 pace. Not too shabby to me.
Easter Egg Hunt
Another great aspect of this event was the easter egg hunt. I always like it when there is something for the kids to do. My munch was soo excited to see the easter bunny and get candy filled eggs. She is such a Diva!
And before they said go she had figured out her war path to maximize her egg hoarding efforts. It seemed to be a good plan because when they said go she took off darting right past the close eggs, where a lot were stopping to collect, and straight to the center. In a matter of a minute she was walking back all proud with a basket of eggs. Smart girl.
There was also a little petting zoo with a nice small corral of animals. I managed to get to pat a duck for a split second by calling him "Aflac" and he came right to me. Well, until a little boy chased him off. My daughter enjoyed feeding the llama. I didn't trust it though... that llama sure looked like she would turn on me in a split second. She never did. Her good instincts must have clued her in to not mess with the chunky mother princess bunny runner ;).
It was a great day!
Yeah you, stupid measurement device. 
