Bearathon 2015

At the end of last year, I pushed a little too hard in one of my runs and started noticing a bit of knee pain. I pulled back on my distance and pace so as not to injure it further and then just kind of got lazy with it – as evidenced by my half time at the end of January.

It was still bothering me on and off after that race, so I decided to drop down from the half to the 5k for this years Bearathon (2014, 2013 and 2012 recaps). I’m glad I did – not only because my knee pain has greatly diminished but also because long-distance running doesn’t hold my heart as it once did. (Something I’ll blog about in greater detail later.)

I major failed in not reading every bit of information provided to me by the race directors (because I got cocky since I’ve ran this thing for the past three years) and drove to what I thought was the starting line, only to realize no one was there. It was gone. I quickly pulled out the last email and realized I was two streets over. I got lucky as someone was pulling out of the parking garage and then had to sprint about a 1/4 mile to the start once I heard the starting gun go off.

Just a nice way to get my endorphins started, right?

The weather was in the mid-50s but it had rained the night before and was currently misting, so I decided to wear my rain jacket (purchased from Fabletics, I think Holly has the same one!) but a half mile in I was sweating more than rain was getting on me, so I tied it around my waist.

It managed to twist its way around and in true Tamara fashion, left me with a couple of great race pictures.

If only I had been wearing a purple seashell top, I totally could have been Ariel. Maybe next time.

Also, I laughed pretty hard at the first one because my shirt kept riding up and sticking to my skin, so you can see my stomach right underneath my race bib. Keeping it classy.

They changed the route this year (which is why the starting line was in a different spot) so that it ended at McLane Stadium. Which, for those of you who don’t follow college sports, is basically Baylor giving it their all since we had good ol’ RG3 as a Heisman winner a few years back. There’s even a statue of him.

I just reread that last sentence and it feels like I was trying to segue into a picture of said statue. I have no picture. The guy in the orange shirt? Not a statue. Also, not RG3.

I liked the course change but I did not like that we had about a 1/4 to 1/2 mile walk back to our vehicles depending on where we parked. There was no transportation/shuttles. Which isn’t a huge complaint, I mean, we literally just ran it but with the weather being kind of gross it would have added a nice touch, especially for those finishing the half. There’s some serious hills in that thing.

I managed to finish in 35:46 (only 3 seconds slower than my Jan 5k!) and forgot stop to my Garmin. But it showed my first mile as 11:12 as apposed to my 10:36 last time (fastest mile ever for me!) and so I feel like it wasn’t as much of a fluke as I was starting to think. Like, you guys, I really do have it in me to get faster. Exciting mental breakthrough. Only took me 3 years. Ha!

This was my third race as a Beef Team member for the year (in your first year you are required to run 3 races and volunteer at 1 in order to stay eligible for the next year – more on this in a later post) and hoped to check out our water station but had to pick up Lillie.

We ran a couple of errands in town (I brought dry clothes to change into) that included picking out some cleats and a helmet for tee ball. She’s old enough to be in organized sports and it is crazy talk. Super adorable but totally crazy. She could probably do without the catching of a ball but is all about running the bases. I’m still on the look-out for a local 1k or 1 mile race for us to participate in – suggestions are welcome!

You see the pink blur? Yeah, that’s right. You don’t. She’s that fast.

(Which is another reason I need to get my pace down, I can’t have her beating me! ha!)

Until we run again, my friends!