Saturday morning dawned cloudy and cool. The Viking Fest 5 miler was my first race with out baby since he was born. Reinhardt drove me to the start where I ran into some old friends. There was a decent sized crowd.

This picture was a cross section where I was trying to get a picture of shirtless guy (reminded me of Pittsburgh) there was a much bigger crowd going down the hill towards the start.

I wasn’t sure how to pace myself since I’d never raced five miles and I haven’t really pushed myself to perform sine Al was born. I took off at the start feeling great for the most part although my feet were a little numb. I was very familiar with a lot of the course along the waterfront since I run there often pushing the stroller. It was much easier with out it.

The course runs along the bay and the views are quite lovely. There are some rolling hills although I’ve read course descriptions that said the course is flat. I felt really good for the first half although I knew I was working hard.
At the water stop the clock said 18 minutes and I was confused about were I was on the course. Turns out it was half way.
I started falling apart near the finish. My arms were tired and my legs were burning. On the last hill
I started slowing when the selfless and wonderful man next to me gave me a pep talk. It was just what I needed to finish strong in 37:55!