You can call me Iron Girl

Today was my 5K.  My girlfriend (who happens to be my Chi O Grand Lil) and I decided to run the Iron Girl 5K down at Clearwater Beach.  I contemplated running the half marathon but didn't want to run over 2 bridges so I opted for the 5K.  Plus Jess had never done a 5K so I thought this was a great opportunity.  I decided that I wasn't going to run it for time.  I need to start running for time but I wanted to support Jess in her goal to run the whole 3.1.  She tried to tell me I could run at my usual pace but what kind of friend would I be if I left her during her first race???

5AM came too quickly since I only went to sleep 4 hours earlier.  I got my gear together and Jess came and picked us up.  After trying to find a parking spot in two of the designated lots we ended up finding the best parking in one of the garages.  The trolley came right to us.  There was not a 2 mile line for the trolley like the other lots.  All in all, a blessing in disguise. 

Looking good for 6AM...on the Jolly Trolley

Once we got down to the beach, we found bag check, dropped off our stuff, and headed toward the starting line. Once we got down there, we met up with another sister and her friend.  It was great to have a few more friends on the road!

Our crew

Team Jessica

I.Heart.Her!

 I've never done an Iron Girl event before but it is so empowering to see so many women gathered together in one place.  There were women of all ages....little girls (who were really fast) all the way to a 70 year old woman.  It was just unbelievable.

Just some of the 5K women in front of us

The Starting Line

 All in all it was a good run.  It was exciting to be there to support Jess, who finished her first 5K without stopping at all to walk!  I'm so proud of her!!!  Obviously, it wasn't a good representation of my normal running pace but that didn't matter today.  I'm just excited that we did it, had fun, and got really cute medals and shirts!  Here are some more pics from the race (it was my first time running with a camera too)

If it's blurry, we must be running really fast!!!

Keep it up!!!

Return of the crazy eyes....I don't know what my problem is lately

Can't complain about this backdrop to the race and a beautiful sunrise

We did it!

My very pretty Iron Girl gear

I'm really glad I participated!  My knee hates me right now (which makes me a little worried....any tips/suggestions for intense outer knee pain...it started 6 miles into my half marathon in Feb and has bothered me ever since) but I'm loving being active again.  And to be honest with you, I actually found myself enjoying the run.  Cue the gasps of disbelief.  I actually liked running today!!!

I made it home just in time to shower so we could move on to our next adventure of the day....Day Out with Thomas!!!  Stay tuned for a Thomas the Train-filled update!!!