and they're off!

on saturday morning, aaron and i woke up at 5am to run. i ran just over 5 miles, and he continued for a bit after i finished and probably ran about 7. once we were done, we showered and put on our "race day" running gear, grabbed his mom and little brother's girlfriend and headed to USC to prepare to run the revlon run/walk with aaron's brother and wife. the six of us gathered in the hospitality area of the pre-run festivities. for me, it was my 10th time waking up early on the saturday of mother's day weekend. for others? it was the first. aaron's mom was celebrating her 4th anniversary of running the race. and aaron was on his 9th run.

my sister-in-law was nervous. it was her first road race, ever. and she didn't know how she would fare. i was just anxious. it was the first time i WOULDN'T be trying to achieve a personal best time. instead, i was going to run with the entire group and let them set my pace. something someone as competitive as me doesn't do, easily.

hence, the reason aaron and i got up early and pre-ran before the race. we got all of our nervous energy out of the way and just put our focus on enjoying the race, at whatever speed it would be.

in reality, my sister-in-law kicked butt. she ran a great race and it was only when MY KNEE started bothering me (what? i haven't run outside on the concrete in MONTHS) that we had to slow down. (i know, i suck).

anyway, as we rounded the corner towards the entrance of the coliseum, the tribal drum players set our pace and my sister-in-law took off like a bullet. we all ran to catch her, but she was ghost. meanwhile, my knee pain was flaring up in a major way, but i sprinted as fast as i could anyway and finished with aaron, the second year in a row.

overall, a pretty powerful experience. also? next time? maybe i won't pre-run the race before the race. good advice, son.