Green Hope 5k Race Report

Executive Summary:
1st overall in 15:23ish. It was extremely windy in North Carolina this morning, which was awesome when I was going in the general direction of Oz. When I wanted to go back towards Kansas, however, it was all I could do to tap my heels together and hope for the best. Unfortunately, I have never seen Wizard of Oz, and tapping my heels together was just the product of a disturbingly uncoordinated running form.

Completely relevant and necessary.

Pre-Race:
As many of my friends know, being imaginary doesn't mean you don't have feelings. Wait...no. Ummm...as many of my friends know, I have been MIA recently, especially if they have tried to contact me. To be honest, I have been kind of a bad friend over the last few weeks, and I need to work on that moving forward. My excuse is busyness, or business, depending on your feelings about whether there is an "i" in team.

That made no sense, but I am writing stream of consciousness. BANANA PANCAKES! Post-race recovery food or Jack Johnson song? Dorothy never tells.

If these had a swoosh on them, they would be in Alex Varner's closet.*

*(Inside joke about an awesome friend who runs a 14:17 5k and has a bit of a running shoe fetish)**

**(explaining jokes is always a good idea)

Anyway, there have been some great, humbling developments over the last few weeks. Earlier this month, I was elected Editor-in-Chief of the Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum (Duke's Environmental Law Journal). I am taking the reins from some amazing people, and it is unbelievable humbling to hear the names of some of the EICs that came before me. Hopefully we can really make a difference over the next year! Or at least not run the train into the ground. Legal writing style tip #1: Mixing metaphors are good, because they keep the reader on his/her/their/gerund's toes.

Today's race was run on a whim, with an impromptu rest day yesterday after a great training week. Did I ride Amtrak every day, build a kick-ass model train set, or have some good runs? I don't know, I AM BUSY AND THERE IS NO TIME FOR DETAILS.

It was a local, certified 5k, and I was hoping to go out fast and see what happened. What happened? Did it happen? IS IT CURRENTLY HAPPENING?! Turn the page to find out...

In certain parts of West Virginia, this is softcore pornography.

Race:
It started up a short climb, which was an added section from the course map on the USATF website. That being said, the Garmin of the second place finisher said it was 3.17 miles, which sounds about right for a certified course. Anyway, after a quick acceleration into the wind, we turned for a long stretch with a cross-wind. Luckily for the guys behind, this means they were not downwind. When we turned into the wind, the smell of my racing flats would clear their sinuses.

I went through the mile in 4:41, before hanging a U-turn and being stopped cold by the wind. I was consoled by catching the lead bike for a second, which had trouble getting up to speed after the turnaround. He was awesome, and said something super nice, and I grunted in response. Fortunately, he understood the situation, and did not assume the skinny zombie wanted his brains. I mean, ewwww, soo much saturated fat.

Corgi interjections will be a big part of the Environmental Journal.

Slowed a ton over the 1/3 mile into the wind, and finally reached some protection around 1.75. The rest of the race was trying to make up lost time with the wind, and gritting through the teeth of the breeze when we made small turns. It finished with a lap on the track, where awesomely it felt like the wind kept shifting to my back, and I crossed somewhere around 15:23 (that is what I was told by the spectators) (spectators is code for "people who were dragged there by their lycra-clad significant other and/or Federal tax-code dependent"). Did some 400s a half hour after the race to capture the magic of the perpetual tailwind track, then called it a day with 7 gallons of hot chocolate. If this whole law thing works out, I am investing in a 2-person hot chocolate tub for post-race recovery.

Thanks so much for reading, and for everything else. Sorry if this is random and/or annoying and/or LINSANE. A special thanks to all the amazing people who stuck with me the last few weeks, even if you didn't hear from me. You guys are awesome!