Webster Education Foundation 5K 2013 (Chasin' ZZ Top)

Webster Education Foundation 5K (3.15 miles)

28:28 PR!

Average Pace 9:02/mile

Do you ever have a gut feeling of pending disaster?  That's how this race started out.

Sheesh.  My last few race recaps just keep sounding horrific.  But honestly, I'm doing it to myself.  You'd think I'd have learned at the Gandy Dancer race a few weeks back not to experiment with eating crap the night before a 5K race. 

Yes, I know - just punch me in the face now.  In a pinch on Friday night, and in a car by myself with my dog in the back seat, I was fairly limited in my dinner choices.  Driving 100+ miles through rural MN/WI and hungry, what's a girl to do?

Ah, the dinner of champions - a Wendy's basic cheeseburger meal with fries.  So gross and yet so good.  I try to justify it by saying: Wendy's is a least fresh and includes a larger than average serving of lettuce, tomato and onion on the burger.  (I know a few people who are cringing right now... and I'm sure I'm about to "enjoy" a lecture on the health benefits of kale the next time I see them).

Needless to say, I HAVE to stop eating crap the night before a race.  My stomach of steel is starting to revolt by telling me grease does not do a body good. 

Moving on... and yes, I'll try to avoid the pre-race diet recaps in the future.

As I mentioned prior to my departure last week, I just took a week long vacation.  And I have to say, doing this race, I definitely started my cabin vacation off right!  How can you go wrong with doing a 5K?  Well, aside from the fact that my poor husband ended up sitting around for over a hour on my birthday to spectate... poor guy!  He's such a sport, escorting me to check in, commenting on the t-shirt we got, taking my pre-race photo:

 

Oh, see that little something blue on my left wrist?  More on that in a future post.  It will make my race recap today extra interesting, though.

Anyway, I don't have a lot to say about check in.  I got my bib number (#2... how did they know my stomach would appreciate that joke??), my t-shirt, and my instructions on how to pin the bib.  Like I mentioned in the Gandy race report, they were using the photo finish system again at this race.  So, I had to have my bib in a specific location to ensure a proper finish log.  Ok, easy enough.

Notice that I pinned the bib on the wrong side in my pre-race photo?  Yeah, I'm just that smart.  At least I figured it out and fixed it prior to gun time.

Having two strikes against me with the stomach and the bib issues, I decide things can't get much worse and proceed to line up at the start to await the gun time.  And for the first time ever, I turn on my new GPS watch and waited for the satellites to link in.  In less than a minute, my watch told me I was ready to run.  Sweet!

Just a few minutes after my watch was ready, the gun went off.  So, I clicked the "go" button on my watch and took off, excited to take my new gadget for a spin (literally).

As is typical for 5K racing, it took about 1/2 mile for runners to start to shake out.  Seems like it never fails: everyone throttles out of the gate like a bat out of hell when the gun fires.  But, by the first 1/2 mile, all the sudden people realize they went out too fast, and they start to burn out.  That, in my eyes, is when the real race begins.  And, that is also when I start to pick out my competition.  Which may be a 6 year old, a granny... or in this case, a man with a kick ass ZZ Top style beard.  I saw him and couldn't resist.  I just looked at that beard and said: Let's rock this!

I chased him for the first mile, and I have to admit, he really motivated me to move!  I forced myself to keep pace with him, even though I wasn't sure if it would be a mistake later in the race... going out too hard can definitely catch up with you in the 3rd mile. 

First mile in, my watch tells me I ran under a 9 minute mile.  Not too shabby!

I continued to chase ZZ Top until somewhere past the first mile or maybe the half way point.  Then, I don't know what happened, but he lost his spark and fell back a little (although he didn't quit running).  I have to admit, I was pretty bummed.  It was kind of fun to take bets with myself to see if I could beat a middle aged man with a beard like that.

When he pulled back, I powered ahead and picked the next person ahead of me that I was going to "race".  Yes, I do this all the time.  It's a race, and my goal is to beat whoever is ahead of me.  So, even though I'm not going to win, I am going to BEAT SOMEONE DANG IT!!  This is about where I have to admit... keeping pace with a 60 something woman taught me the humility of judging a book by its cover, again.  I started wondering almost immediately if I would be able to hold her pace to the finish line.  I realized I couldn't and started to pull back somewhere just after the 2nd mile, which my watch said I cleared just past the 18 minute mark.

About this time is when I start to realize that my watch is coming in handy!  Doing math in my head I discover that even if I ran my typical slow pace from long distance runs (about 10 min/mile), I might finally do it!  I might meet my goal of getting an official 28 minute finish time!!  Despite my legs feeling like lead, I refuse to let myself go any slower.  Which is hard to do, because we've now transitioned onto the last 1/2ish mile of the race and we're back on a trail again.  Running on gravel really sucks. 

I guess I can add a note here about the course, and use a fun feature of my new toy (a custom map, ya'll!!).  As you can see below, we started at the green dot, which was the parking lot of the Webster High School.  As indicated by the green/yellow line, I ran like a mad woman through the city streets until I started to fade a bit at the 1/2 mile mark (note how the line starts to turn orange).  A bit before the 1 mile mark, we turned right onto a gravel trail, which we promptly exited again at Oak Street... just to hop on again after clearing the 2 mile mark.  Gah!  Even flat trail running suxxxx!!!

Here's the map:

The race course was actually kind of an ingenious design, because it allowed the water stop to be stationed right in the center of all the trail running... meaning you could have a double stop to get water if needed.  Kudos to the person who figured that one out!

The last bit of the race was a transition off the trail onto the grassy field of the high school leading up to the track.  That's where this happened:

ARG!  Seriously, you guys.  This guy just came out of nowhere and passed me!  WTH!  So pissed!  Here's my after face when I realized what happened:

NOT A HAPPY CAMPER.

But, that didn't last long, because as I frantically looked for the finish clock, I realized I was on track for the ever elusive 28.  So I canned the pissy mood and pushed for my final sprint.

You should have to be nekkid to streak that fast, amirite?  I look like a pro!

And as my husband took the above photo, he then scrambled to capture this (albeit a few seconds too late):

Not going to lie.  I did a little fist pump at the finish line before handing in my bib's tear off tag... profusely sweating all over myself in the process.

Since I had high hopes that I beat most of the other 30 something women to the finish line, I decided I wanted to hang around at the finish for the awards ceremony.  I heard there were medals for the top three in every age category, and I figured even if it was 3rd, I wanted that metal dag-nabbit!

My husband and I passed the time by watching other runners come in.  Before I could even get my heart rate back in line, ZZ Top came through the finish with a very respectable 30ish minute finish. 

People kept rolling in, and at the 40 minute mark the cutest little boy realized he was almost to the finish and broke into a HIGHLY focused sprint.  I mean, it was the kind of sprint where he looked like he was shooting death rays out of his eyes and his legs were spinning so fast he put the road runner to shame.  It was so stinkin' cute the entire audience cheered him into the finish:

At this point, a few more walkers straggled in and the time keepers started tallying for the winner's circle. 

I killed time by looking at my watch and marveling in it's technology.  Here's a sample of some of the reports I was able to generate post race:

Finally, the moment came to announce the top threes.  Why is it so hard to be patient when you really want something bad? 

Top females 12 & under... top males 20s...

Ok, here it comes: top females, 30-39!!

Nope, not 3rd place...

Hmmm, not second place either?  Well, shoot.  I may as well get up and start walking back to the car. 

And then I hear it.  "First place, Natalie Cobb."  I am so shocked that all I can do is let out a yelp of "Oh my god!"

It took me a few seconds to realize I need to hustle up to the announcers and claim my prize... the whole time I'm in a daze, not able to believe I just took first place. 

And then, reality sinks in as I start to walk back to my husband.  For all the years where I thought I'd never weigh less than 200 pounds ever again, never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd EVER take first place in any kind of athletic event.  Even as a kid, I was always the chubby one on the side lines, dreading PE class and hoping to make it through any mandatory athletic event without making too much of a fool of myself.  And here I am, holding a medal for first place.  I proceeded to lose it when I've cleared the crowd, full on bawling on the way to the car.  Not out of pain or anger, but out of sheer pride. 

It's times like this that I can't believe who I've become.  Not only a PR, but first place.  Who is this person?!  I don't know, but I'll keep her!

In celebration of a race well done, we head to the local coffee shop.  Of course, I can't resist a second to bathe in my glory and pose for a Facebook ready gloat photo:

Little did I know, if I had held in there for another 10 minutes, I could have been featured on the race's website as a champion.  UGH!  Oh well, next year.  Regardless, look at that amazing group that I was a part of:

And that's the story of how race bib # 32 joined my collection.  Here's to another race soon... which already happened, actually, so watch for my next recap on Friday!

Unavoidable Fast Meals

Yep, yep.  I'm back from vacation.  And guess who took the extra lazy route of enjoying a few meals out in addition to not working?

This girl!

Ah, the evils of dining out. 

Or even worse, the evils of fast food. 

Did you know that a single meal of a double whopper with cheese, a medium order of fries, and an apple pie from Burger King contains more saturated fat than the American Heart Association recommends we consume in two days? 

If only it kept you feeling full for two days as well, right?  Eep!  Fast food is REALLY bad for you.  No wonder why we're facing an obesity epidemic.

The simple solution?  Just don't eat fast food!  Easy, right?

I know, I know - unfortunately, we've all been here...

A million things going on and all the sudden...

So, what to?

Plan ahead.  Pack your own meals.  Avoid eating out.  This is my #1 recommendation.

But there are times when fast food is unavoidable (or in my case I'm on vacation and just plain lazy).  Here are a few options I usually consider:


Subway

You can gorge yourself on a foot long veggie sub and still eat healthier than any of the other options below: just order their basic wheat bread, all the veggies, and toss on some olive oil & vinegar for dressing. 

560 calories, 16 grams of fat, 16 grams of protein
PLUS over 30-50% of your daily allowance for vitamins A & C, calcium, and iron


Wendy's

Broccoli & cheese baked potato with a side of apple slices
480 calories, 14 grams of fat, 16 grams of protein

If your extra hungry, you can add a small chili
180 calories, 5 grams of fat, 13 grams of protein

They also offer salads, but when you factor in the toppings used plus salad dressing... well, not so healthy.  If you can eat without the dressing, maybe not so bad... but I'd still recommend the above instead.


Burger King

Veggie burger with a side of apple slices
440 calories, 16 grams of fat, 21 grams of protein   **even better without mayo

Chicken, apple & cranberry salad
560 calories, 30 grams of fat, 29 grams of protein **dressing not included, and you don't even miss it


McDonalds

Ah, crap.  Literally.

This one is on the bottom of my list for a few reasons.  Mostly, because I just don't do McDonalds and wish other people wouldn't either.  Also because they really don't offer healthy options.  But if you're in a pinch... I'm choosing the option which I'm guessing is the least preserved and disgusting of the bunch:

Premium chicken ranch wrap with a side of apple slices
470 calories, 16 grams of fat, 30 grams of protein   **even better without the ranch dressing




So while I'd like to repeat the best option: plan ahead, pack your own meals, avoid eating out... I know it's not always realistic.  When stuck, some careful menu selections like the above can get you through the occasional fast food stop.

Healthy eating to you!

Happy Trees

Well, it's Friday.  And I'm about to take a vacation.

Can you tell I'm feeling lazy already?

I've decided to do something to make my life easier.  I'm going to skip posting all week next week.  So, don't be surprised when I don't follow my typical Monday, Wednesday, Friday routine.

Don't worry.  While I'm off, I'll be running TWO races, so I'll have tons of material to blog about when I get back.  I'm sure you're sitting on the edge of your seat in anticipation.

In the meantime - next week, while I'm enjoying my time off, you should be enjoying things too.  After all:

Sma-schmorshions

My last few posts have been a little running heavy... which I'm sure is boring for my non-running fans.  So, that being said, let's switch it up today!

Although the title of this blog hints at something from this movie:

I'm actually about to talk about something else that also rhymes with the above.

Portions.

Before I get started, let's take a quiz.  Go to this site and see how much you know about portion control.  Don't worry, I'll wait here for you...

---

Well, how did you do?  And were you surprised by the correct answers?  I know I was when I first started learning about portion control.

When I started on my weight loss journey, the second thing I did after working on understand why I was eating, was work to understand what I was eating.  And by what, I mean - what is a portion size, how many calories are in it, and how many portions am I typically eating of said item.

I quickly became aware of how much I was overeating.  And not just on one or two items.  I was over eating a lot.  Like... Everything, and at EVERY. SINGLE. MEAL.

I was shocked, really.  I had no idea what I was doing to myself with those huge plates of pasta and the giant pieces of chicken. I mean, I thought those were healthy options... and they are, just not in the volumes in which I was eating them.

To see what I mean, here are a few visuals of what I'm talking about:

 

 

It's amazing to see typical servings and proper servings side by side... and also slightly disgusting, right?

If we just focus on the steak dinner example above, it's pretty dramatic to see what portion control does to your daily diet.  Imagine if your proper dinner meal was to be 638 calories per day, and instead you were eating the example that weighs in at 1414 calories. 


Watch out, math time: 

      1414 - 638 = 776 extra calories.  In ONE meal.



Take that a little further and assume that you overeat, on average, a similar amount of calories every day for one year: 

      776 calories x 365 days = 283,240 extra calories.



And if you remember from this post, a typical pound of fat is 3,500 calories, so:

      283,240 calories / 3,500 per pound = 80.93 pounds.



In just that one meal, over the course of 365 days, you could be eating the caloric equivalent of 80 additional pounds of body weight.  YIKES!!!!!!!!  I think I even just pooped my pants.  I wasn't expecting it to be that high either.

But what a great way to demonstrate my point.  Portion control makes a HUGE difference.  Your meal can quickly double or triple in caloric density by misjudging what you are putting on your plate.

So, how can you control your portions properly?  By teaching yourself a few basic visuals, you can make portion control decisions in a snap!

Notice any similarities in the above chart to the quiz I had you take at the beginning?  They used some similar portion controls... so there is a method to my madness, here.

Just as a starting point, here are a few visuals you can associate with serving size.

     1 ping pong ball = 1 serving of peanut butter

     4 dice = 1 serving of hard cheese

     1 deck of cards = 1 serving of meat

     1 egg = 1 serving of dried fruit

     1 computer mouse / light bulb / hockey puck =
     1 serving of pasta, rice, baked potato or chopped or cooked vegetables

     1 tennis ball = 1 serving of yogurt

     1 baseball = 1 serving of "medium" fruit or 1 cup of salad greens



And, another interesting technique to pair with portion control is plating.  Notice how much bigger or smaller a small portion looks when served in a different manner, and how easy it is to disguise a large portion accidentally:




Ok, homework time.  Tonight, when you go home and serve your plate... start imagining the above.  What size is your meat serving?  And how about your veggies?  See if you can make some minor adjustments to make your plate healthier.

I bet you can.  And if you do, your body will thank you for it.

This is the Running Community

Last week, I was reading the ever reliable MSN.com news feed again.  You know, the place that informs you about important news blurbs and fart jokes all in one blurb?

Yeah, I'm mature with my news sources.

Anyway, I ended up coming across this:

You can read the source information here, if you wish.

First off, before I get too far, I have to say - shame on whoever ditched this kid on course.  If you agree to run a race with someone, stick with them.  If they're having a bad day, help them work through it.  Lord knows one day it will be your turn to suffer and you'll appreciate the partner who doesn't ditch you.  Don't ever leave someone on course unless (1) they are old enough to navigate to the finish on their own, and (2) they encourage you to go forward without them.

Second, although the man is a marine and I'm appreciative of his service, there is more to this story than the man being in active duty and helping a kid out.  Yet everyone is focusing on this.  And by doing so, they're totally missing the point.

Why do I say this?

Because for any of you out there that have run a race, I know you have been the boy in the blue shirt above.  There is nothing worse than starting a race, having a setback somewhere on course, and then struggling to get to the finish line. 

Regardless of where I've been on course, any time I've ever been struggling, there has always been another runner behind me, next to me, in front of me... there to cheer me on.  Or, me to cheer them on.  Or, maybe we are commiserating our pain or celebrating our victories together.  Whatever the situation, there is always a runner in the crowd there to just... be with.

This image - this is what running is all about. 

Not marines, not children, not being left behind... it's about running. 

Running is about getting out there.  Pushing yourself to do something you never thought you could do, or to push yourself to do it again, maybe even better or faster this time.  And despite the fact that everyone is at a race to get their own best time, I think every runner always want to see others finish as well.


The marine who helped the little boy to the finish.

The elite who sacrificed her 1st place purse to assist an armless marathoner rehydrate.

The track star who carried her opponent across the finish line.

This is the running community.

Look At Me Now

I've been feeling a little lately like this blog has become ... well... this:

I don't want this to just be about me!

So, if you're reading my blog, give me a shout.  Post something below.  I want to hear where you're from, why you read, and what kinds of topics you like to read about.

Come on - get involved!  I'm waiting...

Gandy Dancer Fly In Trail Run 5K 2013 (Flying Sh!t)

 

Gandy Dancer Fly In 5K (3.15 miles)

30:14

Average Pace 9:36/mile

A few of you may be wondering by now why I run so many races on the WI side ... being that I'm from MN, and MN/WI have such a rivalry against each other and all.  And, if you're really watching my race reports, you might have even noticed the WI races all cluster around the town of Siren. 

Well, there's good reason for that: my in-laws own a cabin near Siren.  And, since I'm out there a bit in the summer, and small town races are typically way more enjoyable (to me) than big, over developed, branded races... I try to take advantage of any races I find out that way.  I mean, I'm already out that way enjoying the cabin anyway, may as well squeeze in a workout too, right!?

Anyhow, so begins my race report!

First, I should mention how I came across this particular race because it's pretty important to the over all story.  Which means I need to start this story off right.

Although I don't believe I've mentioned it here, I think some of you may already know that my husband has his private pilot's license. 

Yes, yes - we own a small plane. 

Well, technically... he owns a small plane.  I simply have worked up the courage to ride in it.  I can even manage the occasional smile mid-flight.

Like my sexy pink headphones?  Yeah, yeah - they're only pink.  I tried to find someone who sold bejeweled pilot gear, but no luck.  Would you expect anything less from a girl who runs in cheetah leggings?

Anyhow, for those of you not in the know of hobbyist pilot excitement, this week is Oshkosh week.  Which basically means anyone who's a flying nerd is either at, or dreaming of being at Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  (AKA the mecca of all things air show).  From Monday, July 29th through Sunday, August 4th, people from literally around the world converge at Oshkosh to check out exhibitors selling the newest innovations, attend various demos on how to build/install/utilize airworthy items, and generally ogle each other's planes. 

People in attendance at these things literally gawk at plane catalogues like they were put out by Playboy.  I'm not kidding.

So, what does Oshkosh have to do with Siren?  Siren hosts a fly in breakfast the weekend PRIOR to Oshkosh, so that people who are on their way to Oshkosh might consider stopping at Siren along the way for a rest break, day trip or even overnight stay in the area.

Last year was the first year me made an effort to attend the fly in at Siren... which was basically just a breakfast at an airport with a lot of privately owned planes parked all over.  We (my husband) had a good time looking at planes, and we (me) enjoyed pancakes amongst the sound of backfiring engines.  It was then that I learned how the smell of jet fuel really complements maple syrup.

Of course, ever since, my husband had his eye on this year's event.  Have to keep the calendar open, you know.

So, when he found out they were expanding the event to include more activities this year, he was quite enthusiastic.  Hoping to get me more excited, one afternoon he came running downstairs from his office (gaming) room and said... "They're doing a 5K at the fly-in this year!"

Ok, ok - he got my attention.

I asked him how to register, and he was clueless.  After some googling of my own, I found a contact name for the event, and send them an email.  Literally within minutes I had a link to the official fly-in website, and found the registration form.  Whoever was organizing this thing was just as excited to have me attend as I was to run.  Score.

While I was at it, since I had invited my sister to bring her family up to attend the breakfast this year, I registered her as well.  Let's just say I neglected to ask her permission first, and uh... failed to mention later that this was technically a trail race and not a paved course.  Minor details.  Besides, she's getting a free t-shirt, so she won't mind, right?

Let's fast forward to race day, since this recap is already getting long.

On the day of check in, I noticed a few minor "first year" race mistakes.  IE, the organizers forgot to ask our ages on the registration form (which they quickly managed to fix and utilize immediately post-race for age graded placement), and they made a few spelling mistakes on my name.  No, it's not spelled Natalei.  No, I do not have an F in my last name.  Whoops!  Hahaha! 

Despite the minor mistakes, everything else ran EXTREMELY smoothly.  They had staff directing you where to park, check in was very fast, and there was even a shuttle to take us from the airport parking area to the start line.  (You can see in the map below that there is a good distance from parking lots at the airport to the start line).

And, thank goodness the check-in was at the local government center... with nice, flushing toilets!  Because, this is where the nick name for this race began.  I'll spare you the details, but suffice to say, being in a pinch for dinner and eating a pizza found in the cabin's freezer the night before a 5K race probably isn't the best idea... especially if you haven't eaten a frozen pizza in over a year.  *Gurgle*

At least I remained settled enough to not... offend... anyone on the race shuttle.

Speaking of the shuttle, my sister and I were waiting to board when I noticed a young girl, maybe 10-12 years old, nervously waiting with her dad.  I thought nothing of it until the shuttle pulled up, and the girl proceeded to board the van alone and buckle in.  She looked like she would burst into tears when her dad wished her well and walked away, and I can just about imagine how nervous she was.  I practically had an anxiety attack when I ran my first 5K, alone, when I was 30.  Poor thing! 

I proceeded to sit next to her, with my sister on my other side, and immediately began silly discussions with my sister to lighten the mood.  I think the girl got a few snickers out of our stupid talk.  And when we exited the van, I told her "just follow the person in front of you, you'll do great".  She answered with a timid "ok", but I think I saw a little more confidence on her face as we all lined up for the start...

Which is where, of course, we had a little pre-race speech.  And then bang, the gun goes off.

Amazingly, there's not much for me to talk about regarding the actual "meat" of the race.  Once I got past the gun, it was just a mediocre run for me.  The weather was ungodly cold (40-50 degrees in July?  WTF!), and I was trying to keep a pace that would get me a sub 30 minute finish (fail) without any sh!tty surprises (literally).  And, I always had one eye on the trail to ensure good footing.  Somewhere in the last mile, I was warm enough to warrant unzipping and removing my jacket.  That is the only remarkable event I recall.

Well, that, and on the final half mile stretch I realized the fact that Psy's "Gentelman" song really sounds like he's saying:

"Diarrhea!  (Something something something something something) Diarrhea!  Damn girl, you so freakin' sexy..."

Man, this race was sh!tty in every sense of the word.  LOL!

Really, besides the diarrhea song, the course wasn't to terribly exciting, as you can see on the map.  The majority of the race was run on the Gandy Dancer, a crushed gravel recreational trail for non motorized traffic that circles the airport on it's way in/out of Siren, with less than 1 mile on paved road before transitioning onto the grassy air field.  Where it got exciting for me was towards the end, at the "race enter mark":

In case you can't tell from the map, that's when you exit off of Airport Road, and actually run onto the active airstrip area.  So I went from feeling sh!tty to sh!tty music to flying
sh!t. 

Wait... WHAT?!

Well, technically we weren't running on an active airstrip, we were just on the grassy field leading up to the airstrip.  Which means that you get an up close and personal experience with anyone flying in to the breakfast.  In fact, when I was heading down the grassy knoll, two of these bad boys flew over my head.  Pretty neat!

At the finish, they had a photo system that I'd never seen before.  It was essentially a motion activated security camera that snapped your picture as you crossed the line.  So basically I ran away from the flying sh!t and hustled my sh!tty self across that line for a
sh!tty finish time.  Then, I turned in the lower portion of my bib tag, and got my camera ready for my sister.

When I could see her hot pink jacket off in the distance, I also noticed a familiar mini van coming in to park.  Perfect timing!  The rest of our crew has arrived just in time to see my sister finish!

Realizing his mom was rounding the bend, and also slightly jilted that he couldn't race in this event, my nephew couldn't resist running along for a bit at the finish.  Not to worry, he didn't actually go more than 10 feet or so.

As my sister made it across the finish line, I noticed our little friend from the start line coming down the chute.  While she didn't make it the entire way running, she still managed to make it to the finish!  I cheered for her as my sister met up with her family, and then I hustled everyone over to the breakfast line.

I was starving despite my sh!tty stomach issues earlier, so I was excited to eat.  Runners breakfast was included in race registration fees, and everyone else paid $5.  Breakfast included wild rice pancakes, ham, milk, juice, coffee, sliced cheese (yes, this is WI and the breakfast is a fund raiser for the local dairy group)... and ICE CREAM.  Heck yes!  Ice cream at breakfast.  Nothing sh!tty there!

A few sticky fingers later, we roamed the airport for a little bit waiting for the race officials to wrap up.  Almost on cue, I found these.  How did they know I was having a
sh!tty day?

Heh.  656-POOP.

After about 10 minutes of roaming the airport post breakfast, I noticed race officials gathering with megaphones and medals.  Being that this was a smaller race, I had my fingers crossed that I would place in my age group.  But before they even hit the women's 30-39 bracket I hear my sister's name called for 2nd place in the 20-29 category!!  Shortly after that, my name was called as well.

Wahoo - we both placed!  We're #2, we're #2.  It's like the day was MEANT to be sh!tty themed!  :-)

Yeah, my niece is totally eying up my bling.  Jealous, kid? 

She should be, it was pretty cool... even had an engraved plaque on the back:

Once we finished up celebrating how awesome we were, we went back to wandering the airport to look at all the planes.  My nephew was very eager to point out when a plane had two props (since most in attendance only had one), and he also got a kick out of a plane that had the same name as my sister. 

Luckily, before the weather really went south with high winds and rain, we were able to see some aerobatic flying and a model plane demo - during which, my niece was not exactly a fan of wearing hearing protection ...

But luckily for her, finally the sh!tty day was sealed with a sh!tty kiss - the skies opened up, and unforecasted rain started to fall.  So, back to the cabin we went.

Overall, this was a really fun, but unfortunately small race.  I think the organizers did a great job planning the event, and I wish them all the best in getting a better turn out next year.

And that's the story of how race bib # 31 joined my collection.  Here's to another race soon!