Zoo Run

Yesterday we had a fantastic day at the zoo. It all started with the 4 mile run with me and Aaron.  When we woke up, it seemed pretty cool out (about 55 degrees). I was thinking that I would be running in pants and a long sleeve shirt, but there is an on-line calculator type thing that told me I should run in a t-shirt and shorts so I believed it (and it was right).  Aaron wore pants and wished he would have worn shorts.  Anyway, once we got to the zoo, there was more people than I was thinking. I was a little disappointed because I don't like being crowded around and having to navigate around people.  At this point I decided just to run for enjoyment, and that's what I did.

This is us with the crowd at the starting line

At the starting line there were markers for pace. Aaron and I lined up in the middle between the 11:00 minute mile and 12:00 minute mile. We were there appropriately, but a lot of people didn't see the signs because there were some walkers ahead of us.

Of course, the race started a little late, but once it was underway the fun began.  The first mile was actually out of the zoo around Swope Park and it was mostly downhill. Our whole strategy was to take it slow and not get caught up with the excitement. It is so easy to go fast and then regret it later. It was a little hard to decide how fast because it was downhill and nice and cool. It was a really easy first mile and we ended up clocking in at 11:18.

For the second mile we headed down to Africa. It was here the path narrows and twists and turns. Our pace was more up to the people around us and it seemed to vary a lot. The actual running was still pretty easy and we felt good. The best part was after we ran through an enclosed bridge. Right when it opened up, a rhino was there looking up at us. I wonder if he thought it was a stampede. The second mile was 11:37.

For the beginning of the third mile, we had what I was concerned about the whole race, the run up hill out of Africa. Surprisingly, the hill was pretty easy, except for dodging the people who had to walk. Ha! Not us! After that we had 1 1/2 miles to go and we were still feeling great. We finished the 3rd mile somewhere in Australia at 11:23. Even though we had a hill up, we had a faster pace than mile 2.

The last mile we decided to run faster. We were passing people left and right. I guess we trained correctly and still had energy to go.  Aaron started really booking it with a 9:00 mile pace. I had to tell him to slow down. Man, sometimes it kills me. I run at least 3 times a week and Aaron barely trains and goes faster than me. I think it is one part genetics, one part being a guy and one part he didn't know how much distance was left. So, for the final mile, we killed it at 10:32. We almost cut a whole minute out of the previous mile. Talk about negative splits, right? 

At the end we both felt pretty good. The official final time was 44:58. I finished 84th our of 171 in my age group. I'm pretty solidly in the middle, which makes sense. I've come a long way, but have more to go. Aaron felt so good, in fact he ran the one mile race with Grammy and Henry.

Us after finishing the race and right before the one mile fun run. Can you see the elephants on the left?

Once we finished our race we met up with Grammy, Henry and Frances. Henry was saying that he didn't want to run his race. He said it was because he didn't want his legs to get tired. I think that was true to a point, but I also think he was getting nervous.  Aaron going with him and a promise of going bowling seemed enough to motivate him.

I started the race with him, but took a different turn to go to the bathroom and to feed Frances. Then I waited at the finish line. While I was there I pictured all the different visions of what could have happened during the race.  Happily, when I saw him there was a big smile on his face and Aaron and Henry were running to the finish line. Apparently, he started enjoying the race almost immediately.  That night we could all tell that he was exhausted because he was pretty cranky and fell asleep immediately.

All and all it was a great race and it makes me excited to do more races. Our next planned race was the Buck O'Neal race that has gone on for the last two years, but right now there is a question of whether on not they will hold it. I hope so, because I'm ready to rock it!