This is now my third attempt to write an entry about my first ever 5k. It seems that hitting the "save entry" button doesn't really save anything for me except the info in the header. I just might give up if it doesn't work this time and call it a day. My first ever 5k. Whoopee! I was pretty bummed that Paul couldn't run today, but I was more glad that he was feeling better after his adjustment. Hopefully he can run tomorrow. I definitely have to preface this race report with a shout out to my support crew: the Drapers. Bethany got me through this race and Cody came and pushed the pace on the final straightaway. I can't say enough good things about the Drapers, especially Bethany without whom I would have quit before halfway. The race started at an arbitrary point on the road, which seemed to bother some (Cody), but didn't bother me, since that might have made the race oh-so-slightly shorter. Also, I'm not out to win any awards or break any records, so starting lines really don't concern me. We started right behind this guy who was running with his Golden and got passed early on by a woman pushing a jogging stroller. This is my idea of fun. Running in the dark at 15 degrees in downtown Ogden. I'm sure complaining a lot for a race that was my idea. So, one block of slight uphill followed by one block of steep uphill pretty much kicked my butt. I tried to convince Bethany to go on without me, but she insisted that she wanted to run with me. Have I mentioned how great she is? She could have gotten a PR today, but she chose to run with me instead. I never would have even finished without her. When I got to the top of that hill I could barely lift my legs, but somehow she got me through that. I will admit that the uphill section of the race (the first half) pretty much destroyed me, but the downhill section was a lot more fun. When we got to the part of the course where the loop joins back up with the straightaway we saw Cody run around the corner and gave him a little team spirit. He, of course, returned the favor and went on to take 2nd overall. Nice comeback, Cody. We turned onto the loop part of the course, saw some interesting (read: tacky) Christmas decorations and started on the downhill. So much easier to run downhill. I need to stick to the downhill races. I'm just not conditioned for the uphill stuff. With I'd say about a mile to go Cody met back up with us and ran us in to the finish. I appreciate him pushing the pace a little because I was kind of just on cruise control and Bethany was just sticking with me. Anyway, I guess we were pretty hilarious, or at least that's the report I got from Paul who said that Cody told him how funny we were. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's the comedy stylings of Draper and Petersen. We'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress. When it came to the actual finish I tried to get Bethany to take it and she tried to get me to take it, but we ended up pretty much crossing together (I ended up letting her take it by stepping behind her). Then I went back to my coat rack (Paul) and we hit the Rock part of the Rock and Run. Dinner was good and we met some interesting people (John and Cindy Patterson, who seemed to know everybody there), who tried to convince us to move to Ogden and in turn we tried to convince them to join the blog. We'll see how that works out. So, about my goals. I think that, despite being cold and complaining a little (read: a lot), I do think that just getting out there and doing it and actually enjoying it is pretty good. I hope that God was glorified in the fact that I just finished, which, again, I owe to Bethany. You know, I'm not really a racer. I'm not really a runner, either. I am trying to take care of my sanctuary, though, and I'm pretty sure that counts for something. I hope everybody had a good 2007! I know I did. I can't wait to see what 2008 holds! Hopefully more running and more blogging. Two things I can't get enough of.
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