I ran a 5K yesterday, then yardwork

The 13th Annual Women’s Distance Festival 5k was held yesterday in RTP. The race began at 8:30AM; which meant that jason0x21 had to get up earlier than usual on a Saturday. He's a damn good husband!

The Distance Fest is a casual race with no chip timing; all times were recorded by hand as runners crossed the finish line. There was a new race director this year, so there were a few glitches in timing and marking the course. Some runners might not have run the entire out-and-back course, so some of the times might have been suspect. I am pretty sure that I (and those runners near me) ran the entire course because if we had run out any further, we would have been running in the woods!

I think my time in this race was around 26 minutes. This is about a 3 minute improvement over my two previous races, and I believe that this is a lifetime PR (personal record). I ran cross country in high school, and my best times were in the 27s. Admittedly, cross country courses are more difficult than road courses, but I was a total slacker in high school.

My next race is the Autism Ribbon Run on October 14th. I'll have a timing chip on my shoe for this race, and I'll be going for a duly recorded time in the 25s. After the Ribbon Run, I'll run the Inside Out half marathon on October 22. I am a little nervous because my longest run so far is 11 miles. I could use a little race day magic for this one.

After the race, jason0x21 and I helped our neighbors prepare their yard for their upcoming wedding day.
Their reception will be held in their backyard. The bride is a fabulous derby girl named Shirley Temper:
http://www.carolinarollergirls.com/scrapbook/9april06/images/20_small.jpg

We spent the rest of the day yanking-up English Ivy, picking up sticks, hauling yard waste, raking, etc. I am a little sore today, so today might be an easy running day (7 miles at Lake Johnson:-)