Running in the Lungs for Life 5k

There was a 5k race in Greenville only 3 miles from Bryon’s house, and Bryon offered to drive me there, so I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to run it.  We drove down to the Caine Halter YMCA so I could register, then went to Starbucks for oatmeal and coffee.  My legs were not happy with me when I started running, and I almost regretted entering the race.  The pain in my legs eventually passed and was replaced with the discomfort of any tough cardio workout.  There were no mile markers, and I did not have a watch, so I had no clue where I was and how much farther I needed to run.  I could feel my form and pace start to fall apart, and two or three women ended up passing me in the last half mile, but I managed to hang on and place second in my age group.  Definitely not my best race, but not bad for being on the road for a month with hardly any training.

Me, Bryon and Phil before leaving Greenville

It was a short ride to Anderson, which is why I ran the race in the first place, and we took our time getting ready to leave Greenville.  Bryon made eggs for breakfast, and we packed up to go.  Bryon rode with us for the first 10 miles, and we stopped at the Thomas Creek brewery on the way out to sample some of their beer.  After this pit stop my legs felt much better, leading me to wonder if maybe I should drink more beer during all of our rides.

Bryon turned around when we reached a dead end and had to cross some railroad tracks.  The rest of the ride was uneventful, but pleasant despite headwinds.

We reached Grace and Chuck’s home in Anderson around 4:30pm, with plenty of time to spare before sunset.  Grace and Chuck are the parents of my friend Brendan, whom I ran with back in Rhode Island.  They made us feel at home and cooked a tasty meal for dinner. (They also had plenty of ice-cream flavors to choose from in the freezer).

Churchill, the bulldog