Fall Festivals and 5K's

I left work on Friday afternoon with the intention of having our normal date night that consists of dinner at one of our favorite spots leading to who knows what after. However, on my way home, a friend of ours invited us to the Pineville Fall Festival that we couldn't turn down. Jeremy and I decided to trade in our date night and head to the annual Fall Festival with our good friends Heather and Chelsea.

As we approached the fair, the smell of funnel cakes, BBQ, french fries and homemade soda filled the air making me want to eat right then and there. I had to fight the urge and hold back my hunger as Heather and I decided to ride a few of the attractions before loading our stomachs on the deliciousness waiting for us.

It's starting to be a running theme for me to be the oldest person in line without a kid. We anxiously boarded the Hog Drop which had us laughing and screaming our heads off for what felt like 5 minutes straight. This little burst of excitement and laughter was much needed after the long week of work I had. We then ventured over to what was called the Paratrooper and enjoyed the cool nights breeze as we whizzed by in never-ending circles.  It's a good thing we decided to eat after because I seriously wanted to throw up after riding the Paratrooper. Even with that said, I would do it all over again if I had the choice :)

The only disappointment about the Pineville Fall Fest was that they had a booth advertising fried pickles but to my dismay, they weren't selling any that night. I was bummed. Super bummed. But, in the long run it was probably best that I didn't eat fried pickles the night before a race. I had a 5K to run the next morning and we all know what happend the last time I ate fried pickles the night before. If you're having trouble remembering, feel free to jog your memory and look here.

Fast forward to Saturday morning. It was hard waking up, but I had quite the enjoyable race in the end.

I almost missed the start of The Big South 5k but I made it to the race with just a few minutes to spare. Along the run, I realized that this was my first race of 2012. How did I go from running one race a month for an entire year to my first race of 2012 being in October? Better late than never, right?

I fell in LOVE this race and plan on running it next year as well. It was nice and flat, the running temperature was perfect, and it was centered around one of my favorite areas to shop, Blakeney Shopping Center.  As always, I loved having Jeremy and Sairy at the race! Jeremy was only there to watch (of crouse) and cheer me on as Sairy was waaaaaay ahead of me the entire time, finishing in 23 minutes! That girl is FAST! My goal was to run in under 30 minutes since I only get in two workouts a week. I was satisfied when I crossed the finish line with a final time of 28:57. Not my best, but I'll take it!