My favorite part of the race, the finish line!

I’m talking about the Chains of Love event at Cal Poly of course Race day was complete with music, plenty of runners and cupids in wings and diapers pacing the course, definitely a fun and festive way to kick off Valentine’s Day.

I originally planned to do the 15K, but ended up doing the 10K course instead. Lesson #1 learned today: INVESTIGATE THE COURSE BEFORE RACE DAY! It’s running 101 that you check out the course ahead of time. I went on the web site, looked at the map and figured it would be no problem. Well, it turned out to be pretty tough. Lots of hills and a pretty strong headwind had me feeling a little sore by mile 4.5. So I had a choice, I could either finish the 10K course strong or limp my way across the finish of the 15K. Not wanting to injure myself, I chose the former. My former co-blogger Ryan was very encouraging the whole way, and with his help I ran the entire 6.2 miles and crossed in about 1 hour and 15 minutes. I was going pretty slow, but I was proud I didn’t walk! Believe me, it took just about everything in me to keep jogging UP!

View from the starting line

Even though I didn’t do the full 9.4 miles I still had a lot of fun. It’s always great to be around other runners and meet people in the fitness community. Not to mention the weather was absolutely beautiful (minus what felt like gale force headwinds!). Overall another great race on the Central Coast and I’m just happy I got to be a part of it. Oh yeah, and a big shout out to KSBY Director Ryan Wilkinson, who completed his first 10K today in 49:00. Way to go!