Full Beaver Moon 5k recap

Really was planning to be in Las Vegas today.  This weekend is the RnR Las Vegas Half and Full marathons.  I had a free entry for the race, but after Molly's surgery, I decided it was wise to abandon the travel plans and stay home to save money.

Ironman friend TJ Tryon is the race director of a new race in Noblesville, and when he threw out a $10 off coupon I couldn't resist signing up for a race with the name FULL BEAVER in the title (yes, I'm that immature)  Actually, it was just one more chance to race with my Ironman buddy, Chuck Alfrey.  The icing on the cake was being joined by my weight loss successor, Mark Culp, who is well on his way to losing more weight than I did and is finding a joy for running.


It was a cloudy afternoon, so the full moon was not visible, but the temps were in the high 50s and the winds were gusting over 20 mph.  Potter's Bridge park is a small area along the White river, and the bridge itself is a beautiful landmark to hold the race.  The athletes walked to the other end of the bridge to start the race and the first 0.1 of the race comes through the bridge before you begin the 1.5 mile out and back.  The 8 foot wide trail proved to be plenty wide to maneuver through the competition, and the hills were mild enough for my legs.

I ran hard on Alfrey's heels for the first mile at a sub-8 minute pace, but when I hit the turn-around I knew it wasn't going to hold.  Dropped mile 2 to around 8:30 and struggled to hold 8:45 for mile 3.  Final time was 26:08.  4th in my age group and 30 seconds slower than the First Choice 5k in April, and a full 2:30 slower than my PR from a year ago at Chase Charlie.

All in all a good fun race which is what I wanted.  Great to see friends and try to go fast one more time.  Yeah, I wish I was in Vegas this weekend.  It was a year ago that we were there for The Strip at Night and I shot my video at the expo that ultimately landed me my sponsorship with Team Refuel and Got Chocolate Milk.  Since we didn't make the trip, we decided to hold Carter's birthday party tomorrow.  Bowling with a dozen 6 year olds could be just as entertaining as the Vegas strip?!?  Okay, maybe not, but seeing my son smiling with all his friends is really all that matters!