I signed up for this race on a whim a couple of months ago. I really can’t remember what happened but Lisa, Tracey, and I seem to all have different versions of the story. The only thing I remember is Lisa and Tracey saying they would sign up for it and then, all of a sudden, I agreed to sign up too. Then we ended up convincing Maggie and Dave to sign up too. This all happened at the People’s Church BBQ.

Lesson 1: Peer pressure is real whether you are 4 or 40! Choose your friends wisely! 😂

Initially I hadn’t given this race much thought until I started to plot it out on my training plan. When I realized this race was happening only 4 weeks after San Francisco, I was pretty sure I was just going to run it at recovery pace and treat it as a “fun run”. After TSFM, after I got injured, and after I signed up for the STWM, I definitely didn’t want to get injured again. So going into the race, I had no expectations and I was just going to run it by feel, especially since I didn’t know if my foot injury was going to rear its ugly head again.

Lesson 2: Don’t sign up for races too close together, especially after marathons! 30k is not really a “fun run” – I am not Jim (yet)!

I honestly expected us to run it in about 3:15 which would be about a 6:30 min/km pace. I even told Dave that I would run/walk with him because I was still in recovery mode.

Well, here’s what actually happened. Lisa and I ran the majority of the race together and I think something magical happens when we run together. Even though I thought the last few km’s were so difficult (the thought of throwing up crossed my mind a couple of times), I kept up with Lisa and we ended up pushing each other to go faster than we thought possible.

We finished at 2:54:30 which is 20 minutes faster than what we expected! Maybe we are just really bad at predicting our own race times because we are now 0 for 3! Chilly Half, SL10K, and now this one – we finished all of them well faster than our expectations!

Lesson 3: Never underestimate the power of running with Lisa. Take our expected time and subtract 15 minutes, no matter the race distance. 😂

Kudos to the organizers – the race was very well organized. For the $55 entry fee, I thought it was a great value. Instead of race shirts, we got head lamps to run in the night. Who needs another race shirt anyway? They gave out great swag, had lots of volunteers on the course, plenty of aid stations, a nice medal, and lots of food and drinks at the end. Oh and safety pins too, can’t forget about those! 😂

The best part were the photographers enroute. Every time we passed by one, Lisa and I would strike a different pose. The race was 2 x 15k loops. At the turn around point of the 1st loop, it was a bit confusing which way to turn but I saw a photographer and we wanted to do a “heart” photo. I ran toward the photographer doing my heart pose and shouted to Lisa “heart, heart, heart!” While we were doing that, we almost turned the wrong direction and someone in the crowd shouted, “Less hearts, more looking!” 😂 At another Kodak moment (wow, I’m dating myself!), we did the flying pose and the volunteer shouted, “I don’t think you are allowed to fly!” 😂 I hope we get some nice photos!

Lesson 4: Pain is temporary, Instagram is forever. Always be prepared to strike a pose.

Because this was an evening race, here’s another crazy rich asian thing we did before the race. We played Mah Jong for 4 hours! I haven’t played for years so I was a bit rusty but had a lot of fun.

Lisa hosted us for MJ and our pre-race lunch. I wish I took a picture of the impressive lunch spread that she put out. I was just expecting to eat a PB&J sandwich!

After lunch, Lisa surprised me with a birthday celebration complete with a cake and running-themed gifts. Lisa was the master organizer and Tracey, Maggie, Rishi, Ravi, Parm, and Dave were complicit in this scheme.

I’m not usually a gift kind of person but Lisa chose the best presents ever. It’s like she knew exactly what I wanted! They gave me a medal rack, a keychain with a shoe charm, a card, and even a gift bag that said “#1 BADASS”. How perfect is that? 🤣

It was great to be surprised by my running buddies and for my family to be a part of the surprise too! Thanks Lisa for hosting our MJ/lunch/running triathlon!

This was my last race as a 40 year old. I’m so happy that I’m in the best shape of my life and I am surrounded by family and friends who are supportive and inspire me to dream big dreams.

Lesson 5: Dream big and surround yourself with people who inspire and support you to reach your dreams. Anything is possible!

As part of our recovery the next day, we went to see Crazy Rich Asians. What a great movie – I cried so much! They even referenced “badass” and played Mah Jong. It was like we were meant to watch the movie together! What a perfect way to cap off our race weekend! 😄

Nutrition log:

• Pre-run: lunch spread (2pm), PB&J (4pm)
• Mid-run: 8 Guu chews, Nuun, water (5:30-8:30pm)
• Post-run: water, David’s tea, banana, juice box, protein bar, more water (8:30-9pm)
• Post post-run: egg in a hole x 2 (just before midnight)