Last fall, the Traffic Connoisseur invited a few friends to race the Virginia is for Lovers 14K in memory of a good family friend, John Kainer, the namesake for her son.
And if you know the Traffic Connoisseur and her friends - you would have also immediately signed up for this race - it was bound to be great fun - in addition to being for a good cause.
So while unprecedented snowy weather interfered with many outdoor runs since Christmas, making the 14K my longest run since Placid, I was still looking forward to kicking off Valentine's weekend on Friday by getting together with the girls for some pre-race festivities. Several friends had driven down to the beach a little earlier, but the Traffic Connoisseur and I soon caught up with them at Abbey Road Pub, where I must say, some impressive carbo loading was underway.
Yep, this was my kind of run.
So we chowed down on some evil greasy pub fare, before heading to the hotel - SuperAnnn had found an amazing deal at an Oceanfront Marriot. The party continued at our suite, where we found that SuperAnnn had supplemented our race packets with cupid wings, halos, crowns, boas and heart tattoos - which we tried on instead of preparing our gear. We watched the Olympic Opening Ceremonies as the Traffic Connoisseur and Pink's #1 Brunette Fan kept filling our glasses. The rumor of the race being cancelled due to snow wasn't sounding too bad.
The next morning, we woke up to something that looked like a PG scene from "The Hangover." We also found that JenBo was hit hard with a horrible stomach flu or food poisoning. As we somewhat reluctantly started to accept that the race would go on as scheduled since there were just a few flurries swirling around, we heard that Pink's #1 Blond Fan was also suffering from major stomach issues.
Those of us lucky enough to escape illness, quietly tucked in the patients, then snuck out to grab a quick cup of coffee. At 7:40, we realized we should head out to the 8:00 race. We barely made it in time - the race had kicked off as we were walking to the start line.
Patty Who Hits SuperAnnn was somewhere in the crowd, with the sweet son of her long term friend. Since the group had different goals for the race, we were all kind of on our own at the race start.
Wearing my cupid wings, crown, boa and heart tattoo, I loved seeing lots of other decorated racers - donning everything from Valentine antennae to boxer shorts. It felt different - but very fun - to be part of the silliness.
After the first few miles, I spotted another set of cupid wings out of the corner of my eye. The Traffic Connoisseur had caught me and kindly ran along with me for the next few miles. Between my huffing and puffing we admired the fun race signs. She ducked out for a bit during one of the loops, but we met up again to check out "Cupcake Curve," grabbing a frozen brownie bite to go.
The snow started to come down more heavily toward the end of the race - as we followed the route around the amphitheater. The course would have been pretty boring - but the race directors really did an impressive job keeping it interesting. The Traffic Connoisseur was a great pacer and had me moving during the last few miles. The group soon found each other and we shivered congratulatory hugs. We headed over to the beer tent to celebrate - though I gave Patty Who Hits Annn most of my beer. Now if only they served wine post race.
It seemed to be getting colder and colder - so we decided to forgo the second beer. Thankfully, both our sick friends were starting to feel at least a little bit better.
Oh, and yeah, this was a race right? I hadn't worn a watch (though I did happen to bring sneakers from two different sets, thankfully for different feet, too), so I didn't know my time until later in the day. Turns out I had a solid race - 9:44 pace - which is my fastest for anything over a 10K. I've never done a 14K before, so we can even call it a PR.
And more importantly - a super fun start to the 2010 season.
