twist of fait accomplis

I woke up on Saturday at 5:45am wondering whose bright idea it was that I should wake up on a weekend morning when it was still dark in order to run a 5k race in 35-degree temperatures with occasional sleet. I forced myself out of bed and even managed to eat a decent breakfast before heading out for this year's Stupid Little 5k, a race that indicates the start of the running season for me, since I tradionally slack way off during the winter. Even though I went six months without running and didn't break that streak until six days before the race, two runs last week turned out to be enough to prep me for the 5k.

I clocked in at 25:37, one second faster than my official 2006 finish. And, really, an ~8:15 pace isn't bad at all considering how out-of-shape I figured I was.

I also manage to snag the race's only cash prize: $15 for placing 25th overall. Woo-hoo! I even got a little trophy to go with it.

I currently hold the record for 30-year-olds and I think I may also have the record for 32-year-olds after this year. Of course, I should note that a 32-year-old had never run this race before, so I could have crawled the whole race and still snagged the record.

I placed second in my age group. Out of two.

At least one kid younger than 13 beat me by a mile (not literally). And at least one person over 60 did, too. He beat me by half a mile (literally).

What blew my mind was the guy who finished first in the 10-miler. Not only did he beat the 2nd place finisher by several minutes, he finished in a race-record 54:04, which is a 5:25/mile pace. That's insane.

The rest of the weekend was spent catching up with old friends (Alex, to be specific), entertaining guests, and dealing with a crazy ass 1 1/2-year-old that's sprouting way too many teeth at once.