Hill & Dale 8 Miler: April's Race Report

Since Amy and I both ran this race, you get to read two different race reports! Lucky you!

This race was nice because it started at 11:00 AM...the park is about 30 minutes away plus the time it takes to get lost, which has happened both times that I have driven to Shelby-Meeman State Forrest or whatever it's called. It has like 10 names or something.

April and Amy before kicking the asses of all females, age 25-29

I don't know what the deal is. The signs, directions and Garmin were all wrong...it was just craaaazy. But lucky for us, I am a master of direction so I got us there safely on time.

Despite the cold and rainy weather, it turned out to be a really pleasant race. Like sometimes even a 5k can be miserable and seem like 20 miles when conditions are harsh, but I enjoyed this race almost the entire 8 miles. Sometimes running is good and sometimes it's bad...this was good running and a quality workout.

Ok...look back at the picture on Amy's race report of us running together. That was like, one minute into the race. As soon as there was a break in the crowd, Amy broke out into a full sprint until she reached the finish line.
Ok, not really, but she did speed up and leave me in the dust. I was ok with her abandonment though...I actually expected it and I wasn't going to risk re-injuring my ankle trying to keep up with little ms. speed demon. However, I did push myself and I'm definitely satisfied with my time.

And hey! I got third place in our division! It was really cool that we both placed (and both for the first time!) in the same race. Definitely a good omen at the start of training.

I did have to walk a few times...on the really big hills, but most people did, so I didn't feel guilty for it. We survived the switchbacks, which is something that, apparently, not everyone can say!

Oooooh scary!

Getting it done
The Memphis Runners Track Club always does a good job organizing races and making them fun. They even put together a post-race chili dinner, which might have been better if I hadn't chosen the pot of chili that was burnt. I really didn't know you could burn chili. And I gotta say...that burnt taste lingers in your mouth for way too long. Gross. The only way I could get rid of it was to eat half a pizza when we got home. Problem solved.

So it turned out to be a really great race for both of us. On the way home, we were talking about how most of our friends and family just listen to us blab about running out of courtesy...and that's fine...to each his own. So anyway, we were thinking of people we could call and brag about our awards to (that would actually care), but we couldn't come up with anyone besides our parents and Greg. So instead of seeking out compliments from others, we just kept complimenting ourselves on how awesome of runners we are. We like to feed each other's egos like that.

And on a similar note, if you aren't a runner and someone you know is a runner and that person places in a race, don't ask... how many people were running in your age group? You also shouldn't say, "I guess there weren't many women in your age group, huh?" Total buzzkill. And I know you're thinking that exact question right this very moment, aren't you?

Well I'm not going to tell you. But it was a lot. A whole lot.

A happy Ape