Best Saturday of the Summer!

I have had a lot of fun this summer, but yesterday was one of those days when the entire day was just exceptional. It started off when my alarm buzzed at 5:50 a.m. I had a choice to make: get up and drive 40 minutes to Gosport, IN to run a 5k race, or sleep in until 10 a.m. and work out later in the day. Luckily I was feeling somewhat motivated, so I got up and dragged Karl out of bed and off to Gosport we drove.

I hadn't run a 5k race in over a year. I haven't been running regularly lately because of my bum back (which is now feeling much better!) Basically up until yesterday I ran a total of three times in the past two weeks....not the kind of training that leads to having a great race. I decided I was just going to have fun and see how I did, although deep down I wanted to do well because I like it when I win awards at these things! I'm not going to deny that. I'm competitive. So...when I took off at the starting line I was amazed to find myself among the top female runners. "Am I going too fast right now?" I wondered...but the pace felt fine. I ran in second place for awhile until the girl in front pooped out (she was running in D&G sunglasses...I had a feeling she probably wasn't going to last), and then I was the first place female runner for quite a while. Two other ladies caught up to me and we all ran together from probably about the 1.5 mile mark until close to the finish. The course was hilly and my lack of training led to a little bit of exhaustion at around 2.5 miles. I let the other two ladies go and I ended up finishing in third place overall for the females and first place in my age group. Looking back, I wish I would have just tried to stay with them until the finish. They ended up beating me by 13 seconds and 10 seconds, respectively. Oh well...I'll have to get them next time! The great thing was that I ran a faster time than I've run in several years, and on a course that was pretty challenging in terms of the hills. I'm going to run another 5k in Bloomington this weekend so hopefully I can continue to improve my times.

Taking off at the starting line. I'm in the yellow shorts.

Me leading the race. This is probably around the 2 mile mark. The lady on the left ended up getting 1st overall for the women and the girl in red shorts got 2nd. I was 3rd overall.

Receiving my age group award.

After the race Karl and I ate a celebratory breakfast at the Village Deli in Bloomington, followed by a walk down to the Bloomington Farmer's Market, where we saw many familiar faces and bought lots of tomatoes, sweet corn, coffee from the Brown County Coffee Co. (it's delicious), and goat cheese. The day didn't end there, though! We came home and cleaned up, then went out to Oliver Winery to do a little tasting and picnicing. We took tomatoes, goat cheese, and grapes and enjoyed all of that with a baguette out on the patio along with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc for me and some Traminette for him.

Karl enjoying our little picnic at Oliver Winery.

Baguette, tomato, and goat cheese...perfect combination.

As you can see, it was a fantastic Saturday and we fit a lot into the entire day...but wait, there's more! Two of my old college friends, Steve and Rich, were in town for the night so we met up with them and their friend Michelle yesterday evening at Kilroy's, followed by a trip to the Upstairs Pub for some darts, and finally Sports, which has expanded and has a fabulous back patio where we were able to play cornhole. Overall, it was just a great Saturday and it was very nice to get my workout in early, walk around town, see old friends, etc.

Karl and Steve playing cornhole on the huge back patio at Sports.

Steve, me, and Rich.

Steve, Karl, and Rich.