Surprise Saturday Morning: St. Paddy's Day 8k

Good Sunday afternoon! I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend.

I know I did. Let’s see, let’s back it up a little.

Friday night, I pretty much laid on the couch and watched 17 Again.

Ya know, I’ve never found Zac Effron to be that attractive. I know he is good looking, but he is just too pretty for me. Too perfect. I like some flaws, and a bit more “manly” men. However, I found myself oddly attracted to him in this movie.

While I was watching the movie, I texted Kacy. Somehow in our texts back and forth, I decided to run the St. Paddy’s Day 8k in Oklahoma City.

I was really excited, but also really nervous. This was my first real race and I hadn’t really mentally been preparing for it at all! On top of that, I’ve run run 5 miles before. However, I thought it would be so much fun to run it with Kacy.

I woke up Saturday morning to look outside and realize it was dreary, cloudy, and so windy. Being the non-runner I am, I had no idea what to wear. I was texting Kacy basically saying “omg what do I wear?!”. I eventually picked her up at her apartment and we headed to the race together.

We got to the race early because I had to register, but it was fun getting there early. We walked around and warmed up, people watched at all the people dressed up as Leprachauns. Finally, the race started.

We agreed before that we weren’t concerned with time. We just wanted to finish and we really didn’t want to stop and walk. We wanted to run the whole thing! And really, we kicked butt. I remember thinking how nice it was to run with someone and have someone to talk to because it made the time go by so much faster. Plus, neither of us had watches on which helped us be completely unconcerned with time. It only became difficult the last mile because we were running against some narley wind. However, we did it! And we didn’t have to walk! We stopped once to get a quick drink of water and once to rearrange some clothing because it got hot! But that’s it. We didn’t finish in any great time, but that’s ok. We finished and had fun and that’s all we cared about.

Pre-Race

Trying to distract ourselves by being goofy mid race

Go Kacy Go Kacy

Pretty Lighthouse

After the race ended, we went to a Mama Roja to refuel after our race. I ordered the Chicken Tortilla Soup and 1 Chicken soft Taco. Both were very tasty.

Chicken Soft Taco

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Final Thoughts

I had a wonderful time at the race. I think I mainly enjoyed getting to spend time with a friend doing something active. However, I gotta be honest. I don’t think racing is something I want to pursue any farther than the 10k I’m doing in April. I had fun, but the thought of running that far again kind of makes me feel icky. I just don’t have a blast doing it. I enjoy lifting and sticking to HIIT interval training and short quick intense cardio workouts much more. That’s what life is about though right? Trying new things to see if you like them. I’m so happy I did the race and I’m so excited about the Redbud in April, but I’m even more excited that I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried something new.