Twelve in 2012

My husband and I decided to split up — I’ve been holding him back for far too long.

No, we aren’t having any marital troubles. We decided to split up for race No. 3 in our quest for 12 races in 2012. We agreed to run this one separately.

The race was Saturday’s Get Lucky 7K in Minneapolis. It’s the second race in a five-race Monster Series put on by the Team Ortho Foundation.

There hadn’t been any discussion about how we planned to run this weekend’s event, but we hadn’t been running together on our latest training runs. Chad’s been running much faster and more often than I have. And, while I did get in two good runs down in Florida last week while traveling with my softball team, I really haven’t been running much.

On the way to the Cities Saturday morning we started talking and realized that neither one of us really wanted to run together this time. I knew he would run with me if I had asked. But I also knew that he was probably ready to really push himself, while I was afraid that I might not be able to run the entire distance.

It turned out to be the right decision.

We both had great races. We both pushed ourselves and were proud of ourselves when we crossed the finish line.

Chad raced at an 8:56 mile pace and finished in 38:51. He took 1,476th place out of 8,782 runners in the 7K. I ran at an 11:27 mile pace and crossed the finish line in 49:48. I took 6,206th place.

I accomplished my main goal of running the entire race. I only stopped to walk once — for roughly one minute or so — during the water stop. (I have a hard time trying to drink that cup of water while I’m running!)

My second goal was to enjoy the event — and I did. The weather was warm and the race was crowded. I don’t love running, but I really wanted to get out there and just get in a good workout.

The Get Lucky is a neat race in that the runners really get into the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day. Over 90 percent of the runners wear green and you see some of everything — green ballet tutus, gold tights, guys in kilts, hats shaped like beer, headbands with shamrocks and even people dressed in full leprechaun outfits.

The race felt more like a frat party than it did a competition. Race officials warned participants that it might take up to 25 minutes to get all of the racers onto the chip-timed course. It took us roughly eight minutes to get started and I expected it to slowly thin out as we were running.

But it never did. I was weaving in and out of as many runners and walkers as I was in the first mile as I was in the last.

I guess that goes to show how popular this race is. It probably didn’t hurt that the holiday fell on a Saturday this year and that they give away a free glass of beer to all participants.

Feel free to email me (cbray@republican-eagle.com) with any comments or race suggestions.

Tags: lifestyle, health