A return to an old friend

It's been three years since I've run the Charles Harris 10K.
And this morning, I wasn't so sure it wouldn't be four years before I ran it again. Winter weather in Atlanta (meaning ice in the forecast) threatened to cancel the race this morning, but temps above freezing and the rain holding off until just after the race ended meant we were on this morning!
I looked up my race time three years ago, and I was two minutes slower this morning, which was disappointing. This is such a flat, net downhill race, that I was hoping to do better.
I felt really good until about mile 4 and then I seemed to lose steam. I ate an energy gel, which helped a little bit, but I got to mile 6 of this 6.2 and wanted to walk. My right IT band was angry!
This race and I have a bit of a history.
I remember the first year I ran it with my running buddy Jessica. It was 37 degrees and we complained about that! Ha! Now, I consider 37 degrees BALMY during the winter.
This year's start was 33, by the way.
Then there was the 2006 race.
I was diagnosed with cancer 9 years ago tomorrow. That year, in 2006, the Charles Harris 10K was three days after I was diagnosed, and I decided to run the race anyway, even though I hadn't slept in three days. (Cancer diagnosis should completely come with anti-anxiety medication!)
Dear God, it poured down rain that year, at 45 degrees, the whole way. Not a sprinkle, but a downpour.
At that time, several friends ran it with me (I should mention I have absolutely AWESOME friends) and we had my traditional breakfast afterward. It made a really bad time so much more tolerable.
This year, as I ran, I thought back only briefly to that time. Honestly, cancer thoughts, thankfully, are fewer and fewer.
I won't say cancer thoughts (and fears of recurrence) don't come out from time to time.
The blessing is, those thoughts are fewer.
So here's to the Charles Harris 10K! It was good to return to an old friend, even one with which I've had a checkered past.

Where's the spring in the Spring Tune Up 8K?

Gee, if I'm going to run a race called the Spring Tune Up 8K, I'd rather it not be below freezing at the start.
It was a balmy 29 degrees for this Atlanta Track Club-sponsored race that starts and finishes over near the Reynoldstown MARTA station.
But maybe the cold air helped a little bit, I ran this race about a minute faster than last year!
Maybe this is a tune up for spring. :)

Running with Hearts & Soles

Another great Atlanta Track Club race was Feb. 7: The Hearts & Soles 5K.
This time last year, I was hobbled as a result of that car accident.
This year, I felt good, and I ended up with a great finish time, for me!
The Hearts & Soles 5K has to be about the most boring course, but it's a relatively flat out and back at Georgia Perimeter College in Decatur.
I ran this one by myself, too, but ended up finding my friend Angela at the end.

Angela and me

This year, no hobbling -- and no hearts were broken. Just soles hitting the pavement and getting another 5K under my belt.

Hot chocolate, cold race

I ran my second Hot Chocolate race Jan. 25, but unlike last year, I upped the mileage to the 15K.
Let me just say, I'm one and done.
It started and finished at Turner Field in Atlanta, and this is a course that I've basically run before.

At the start

Hot Chocolate fun

 And it's hilly. Really hilly.
I was expecting to run the race with my three friends I ran it with last year, but none of them could make it, so I was a solo runner on this one.
The race morning was cold. I was glad I had purchased a parking pass so I was able to sit in the car until closer to the race start. I wasn't the only one!
The race wound all around the "lower" part of downtown Atlanta, but it did also go through Georgia Tech's campus, which is always nice. Running down Greek row reminded me of my own time at Mizzou, even though I wasn't in a sorority. I did spend some time at parties at fraternities my freshman year! :)
The 15K course had fun "energy stations." They included giant chocolate chips, strawberry marshmallows, chocolate marshmallows, and tootsie rolls. Now, with my braces, I couldn't enjoy half of the offerings at those stations!
But at the finish there was hot chocolate to warm you up, and chocolate fudge, with lots of good things to dunk in it, like a banana, Rice Krispie treats, or another marshmallow.
I tried all of them.
Here I am closer to the finish:

Getting close!

Are we finished yet?

Still on my feet!

And at last a finisher.

Finished with my medal

The finisher's medal

The finisher's medal is shaped like a chocolate bar, and I'll be honest, this is the entire reason I ran the 15K. I wanted the cute finisher's medal!
Now that I have it, I'm not so sure I'll run this race again. It was fun, but there are other races to try.