Coogan’s Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5K

 I ran my first race this morning, Coogan’s Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5K.

 At 23 I should not have even noticed, let alone been amused by, the fact that my bib number contained the number 69, and yet, I did and I was.

        It was raining the whole run and I got SOAKED. It was like I just went swimming,  BUT I loved it. It was total chaos. I heard that there were around 4,000 people running and there were also family members and musicians and probably pedestrians(?) all along the streets. I knew it was going to be a little more overwhelming than I expected when I got on the subway and probably 15 out of the 20 people in my car had on race bibs and shoe tags. But at least it was reassurance that I was going to the right place. Speaking of the subway, I am apparently a very wobbly subway rider cause I seem to never be able to withstand the sudden jerks and turns of the car as well as everyone else. I actually wound up in someone's lap once. Today, every time the subway started up after a stop, I drifted into the person sitting next to me; it was ridiculous. Even the guy across from me saw and he started laughing. I need to seriously practice my subway sturdiness.

           Anyway, after I got off the subway I was walking up to the street and who should I see but BITCHCAKES! I flipped. I was so nervous I dropped the cap to my water bottle. I've been reading her blog (she actually wrote about meeting me and posted a picture of the two of us in the subway....I'm dying.) for probably a little over a year. I was hoping I would at least see her at some point since we both run and live in New York, but today she actually talked to me. She was so incredibly nice, like couldn't have been nicer. I must have seemed like such a dumb ass cause I was basically gushing over her, but I was so super excited to meet her. I hugged her and wished her good luck on her race and then we parted. It was the absolute HIGHLIGHT of my day. After I met her, I really didn't care how the race went.

         I was standing in the rain getting soaked for a while before the race started, but it went pretty quickly. There were some hilly parts, but for the most part it was a pretty routine run. My mom was there at the finish line after the race which was so cute and motherly of her. She took pictures (which I will never show anyone, ever) and then we went out for a delicious vegan lunch. Now, I'm home and dry and I am so happy to be in sweatpants, on my bed, not moving. Tonight is dinner with Sara and Michele. This should be a pa-reeettty tops day.