St. Patty's Day!

As in the past, Erie got hit with their St. Patrick's Day snow and cold.  Last year we were lucky, and this weekend was beautiful.  After last weekend's beautiful weather I was very hopeful that this weekend would follow suit, unfortunately I forgot that Erie weather is extremely unpredictable.

My friend Jen and I had signed up for the St. Patty's Day 5k a while back.  I will admit that getting up this morning I was a bit apprehensive.  I looked out the window when I woke up and was greeted with more snow!

The forcast didn't look promising, I had to face the fact that today's run was not going to be under "ideal" conditions.  Still I was excited to get a little dressed up to enjoy today's holiday.  I will say, St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorites!

True to our tradition of getting to the race ridiculously early, Jen picked me up a little after 7 and we were off!

We got there early enough to pick up our stuff and snag a decent parking spot.  We have a history of getting ideal parking, since we are normally two of the first people there.  Needless to say, we had some time in the car to chit chat and get ready.

The timing chip proved to be a little difficult, but we ended up getting it on our shoes in time for the race.  We jogged a bit to get warmed up (and to get to the bathroom because I had to pee!).  The first thing I noticed was that it was slick!  I was a bit worried about running 3 miles on such a slick surface.

Still, we were pretty excited.  I love being able to run with good friends!

Once the race got started it took me a while to acclimate to the weather and conditions.  My bad ankle had a hard time with sliding in the slush, and by the end was pretty painful.  Still by the end of the first mile, I wasn't feeling the cold at all.  The route we ran was different than the Turkey Trot route, and I liked it a lot better.  There were more turns that helped to break up the straight sections.  I didn't use my running app like normal, so I had no clue how fast (or slow) we were going.

In the end, we ended up finishing at the same exact time just as the clock at the finish line hit 30 min.  I figured it out and we had a 9:16/mile average which is by far the fastest I've done so far.  I love that I had a good friend there to motivate me to keep going even though I was in pain and to push me to go faster than I probably would have on my own.

After the race, we both got to enjoy our "runner's high" together as we headed home.  We've got plans to do several more 5ks this year as well as a couple 10ks.  The big race in August will be a half marathon.  It's a bit intimindating but it is such an awesome goal. 

Now that we have the rest of the day to enjoy, Tim and I decided to take M to the annual St. Patrick's Day parade.  Erie does St. Patrick's Day like no other, and I can't wait to enjoy it with my family!  Look for more information on those adventures later!