5k, Nearly 5 Minutes Faster

I can't think of much that I would less like to do than wake up at 5:30 am to go run three miles. But even so, I woke with a little buzz of nervous excitement for my Lincoln Park Zoo 5k Run. Start time wasn't until 8 am, but breakfast was important and I was also venturing to take the bus to the Zoo.

I was full of first-timer worries, like how I couldn't bring very much with me, because what if I had to run with it? (They have a "gear check" tent so that worry was put to rest.) Why did some people on the bus appear to have their t-shirts already? Were we supposed to get them in the mail beforehand or something? (They were the shirts of run alumni, I picked up my shirt at registration.)

My unofficial finish time was nearly 5 minutes faster than the 5k I did in April. I guess that means that "training" actually helps. We'll check my official time online in 48 hours as they record my chip time. The chip is a little black disk that attaches to your running shoe. I had no idea what to do with it initially, but a helpful fellow runner explained and even bent down to tie it to my shoe laces.

The surge of running with the mass of people was motivating. (The race was sold out.) I ran or jogged for probably 95% of the run, also avoiding the shame of being one of the first to start walking. (I had to walk while grabbing a drink at the midpoint water station, realizing that drinking while jogging meant that my shirt would collect more water than my mouth.) We started out running through the zoo, which was a little crowded and I wondered if the antelopes might start a stampede, since that's what it looked like we were doing. The kangaroos popped their heads up with curiosity. The lions were sleeping when I registered, and just like our own cat, their were still lazing about when I finished.

I shuffled along through the last mile, a little perplexed by mile markers from the 10k race that overlapped with my race. (I'd already passed Mile 2, then passed their Mile 5 and 6 markers...where was my precious finale 'Mile 3' marker??! How did a mile in the 10k not equal a mile for us 5ker's? Answer: the 10k route took a detour we didn't.)
I was never so happy to smell animal manure as we came up from the underpass that finally marked mile 3, the zoo was close again!
And I don't think I've ever liked Gatorade so much as when I saw the tables full of their rainbow flavors after the finish line.

A fringe benefit of doing this 5k was that I learned the super convenient bus route running by our house. Instead of taking the El and then walking a mile I hopped on board and was dropped off just a block away. A friend once philosophized that there are 'bus people' and 'train people' and you really don't crossover. This was validated when I was once talking to my Grandma (bus person) and I mentioned the New York subway. She furrowed her brow and 'tut-tutted' me, the subway is not safe. I am typically a train person, but I might become interdisciplinary. The bus not only takes me to the zoo, but it passes Wrigley Field and some of our favorite nearby restaurants on the way.

Sorry, there are no photos of me from the run. While I did the 5k 5 minutes faster, Jason stayed up computing until 5 am, so there was no way he'd be running. Since he's often my blog staff photographer, we only have stock imagery to decorate this post.