Day 7, Week 4: A chronicle of the TC 10K and 5K in really stupid pictures.

Just so much running craziness today.  Where do I even begin?  I think I'll start at the beginning.

This is a stick-up.  Gimme all your water and gels.

The twin and I started out hitting snooze about 4000 times on our alarms.  We finally got up at 4:30 AM and scrambled to get ready and out the door by 5:15 AM.  I did manage to down 2 entire cups of coffee before we got to the race site, which was on the Capital Grounds in St. Paul.

Before the grounds became littered with runners.  And sunshine.

And then I got a tour of all of the port-a-johns on the Capitol Grounds because of those two cups of coffee.  Just a Twin Cities Marathon Weekend tip for you: The port-a-johns AWAY from the start line usually have no lines.  You're welcome.  I also helpfully pointed out to people where gear check was, because we ended up on an epic journey to find it.

Although you can't tell from the picture that the sign says "gear check" because my photographer was taking photos and videos completely against her will and wasn't really focused on the artistic vision I had for each picture.  Here she is expressing her opinion about being the de facto media specialist for the day.

I then did what I usually do when someone expresses a strong opinion about something to me--I ignored it.  Then I forced her to take stupid pictures like this one:

Hubert Humphrey just doesn't listen these days.

Anyway, after that we actually ran a race.  The first race on the schedule was the TC 10k, a nice out-and-back down Summit Avenue.  If you're nutty like me and run the marathon the next day, this is a good preview of what the last three miles of the race will be like (some hills but a nice downhill finish).  It's a scenic little course, and I finished it in under an hour (57:30 thereabouts).  Which was a completely stupid thing for me to do since I ran a tempo the day before and I still had a 5K and a marathon on the weekend running schedule.  I resolved to run the 5K slower and to keep my legs loose and warm while waiting for the 5K to begin.

The twin was unimpressed with my chosen warming-up activities.  To say the least.

Soon the 5K got underway, which was extra special good this year because they changed the course to go through this neat little downtown-y section and then back down Summit Avenue.  And, like I knew would happen, I didn't really run it that much slower and came in just under 30 minutes because I am a complete and utter moron.  Also evidence I am a moron: my race photos.

Please note kindred race photo crazy in the background.

...aaaaand I'm stupid-posing my way right out of this post now.

Ya'll gonna learn today:

• Normal running pictures?  What are those?  
• I define my own normal.
• But normally I do not forget my headphones, which I did this morning.  Sad!
• I fear for my marathon performance tomorrow.  My legs are really tired right now.
• Forcing a sibling to be your race photographer never ends well.
• Statues are always willing to take pictures with you.

Tomorrow's workout: Twin Cities Marathon!  Woot!