Courage & Valor Run – Firefighters 5k

Sorry for posting so late, I’m swamped at work today.  I have so much to say and have just wanted to post all day, but now I finally have a few minutes.  So, I ended up doing the Courage & Valor Firefighter’s 5k last night downtown Indy.  I figured I’ve been lazy as crap lately so I should get my butt up and do it and I’m glad I did!

The weather was in the 70’s and while driving home from work, a radio DJ said that it’s going to be the last nice day before many rainy days, so he said to “get out there now and do something outside while you can.”  That’s what confirmed my decision to run the Courage & Valor Run – 5k last night.  Thanks DJ whatever your name was.

I was hungry when I got home from work and knew I had to eat something so I’d have energy to run.  I grabbed a banana, changed and jumped in the car and headed downtown.

I ate the banana in the car and grabbed the water that was sitting in my center console.  I drank it and it burned my tongue!  I didn’t realize it had been sitting in my hot black car with black leather interior all day and was so hot that it would have been a perfect temperature if I had a packet of hot cocoa.  I could’ve just dumped it right in and had myself a nice hot chocolate.  Decided to wait until I got downtown in hopes they had some cold water.

I got there, registered, got my ticket, shirt and timing chip and had a seat in the grass.  I don’t know if it was a good idea or not, but I was still hungry and grabbed a free nutri-grain bar they were handing out.  I ate it about 20 minutes before the race.  I was so nervous the bar would make my tummy hurt, but it didn’t  THANK GOD.

The shirt was super manly, but it had a cute Indy Firehouse logo on the back that I liked.

So, picture this.  600 fireman/firewomen and about 100 other runners that just wanted to take part of it (like me).  This place was primarily big men wearing dark clothing and then there was little old me in my pink tank top.  My boyfriend called and told me he may stop by the race to cheer me on, and I told him he wouldn’t miss me because I was one of the few in pink.  We ran along the Canal downtown Indy.  It was really pretty and pretty flat.

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I wish I would’ve gotten a picture, but there were some firemen that were running/walking the race in FULL GEAR.  I don’t know how they can do that!! That’s so heavy and hot! (Not only temperature wise, but it was also pretty sexy also ;))

The race began and I started wayyyy to fast.  I’ve heard many of you girls saying that on your blogs and then you regret it later…well that’s what happened to me.  I started fast with the adrenaline rushing and trying to keep up with all these men right from the start.  I kept up with them until the first mile marker.  At this marker, I felt like I had been running for 4 miles already.  I was going to stop at the next bridge until I looked up and saw my boyfriend yelling my name and waiving on top of the bridge! I was so happy he came and of course I couldn’t walk then..so I kept trucking along but had to stop to walk a few minutes later.  I ended up walking 3 or 4 different times for about 30 seconds to a minute.  Unlike the Race For The Cure 5k, I just couldn’t do it all.  I kept getting a terrible side cramp.  I think the running faster and small walking breaks may have been a good move for me though, because I ended up BEATING MY OLD TIME!!!  Yep, even though I took a couple quick breaks, I think I made up for it in my runs because my running pace was faster than if I were to do a continuous jog.  My race time for this 5k was 26:32!!!!!!!!!  I beat my last 5k time by about 45 seconds.  I couldn’t believe it! I thought I was going to suck it up because I knew I was struggling and had to walk.  It seriously seemed like such a long run…but I’m so happy I beat my old time.

After the race, the BF and I went to eat dinner downtown at Bourbon Street Distillery and I had an awesome grilled chicken sandwich with amaaaaaaazing french fries.  Wow I’m such a sucka for fries.

I had a lot of fun with this race..even though it was much harder than my first one.  I’m glad I beat my time, but next time I have to be sure to take it slower in the beginning so I can finish strong.

Have a great weekend loves 🙂