New Year, Fresh Start 5k

To ring in 2011, I ran the Polar Dash 5K and it was a truly amazing experience, one I hoped to repeat for 2012. I waited anxiously for that registration to open and when it did, I was crushed to find out the prices had jumped to an unreasonable (for a 5K) $45. I found myself thinking: It's just a 5K. I can do that for free any day. I often do that for free in cold weather. What incentive is there to sign up for this this year and spend that much money? 

So my running buddy and I decided that we would much rather do our own unofficial 5K closer to home and just collect a free will donation among friends for a charity. We even named our little unofficial 5K, the Fresh Start 5K. Capturing upon the optimism of a new year. We made little goodie bags for up to 10 participants and joked that the weather was unseasonably warm in MN and we may end up in t-shirts. 

Well, dear Mother Nature in MN, decided otherwise. December 31st a storm went through and dropped snow (which first melted and formed a nice icy underlayer) and gave us 20mph winds with 30+mph gusts. While the temps were about 20 degrees warmer than the prior year, this race would still prove to give us a weather challenge. 

But 7 of us showed up and we had an amazing little 5K run. We trudged over ice, and snow and pushed against wind gusts, but in the end, we all won. We won our proverbial winter running bad ass points. We won a healthy kick off to 2012. And for Amber and I, I think we found ourselves a new focus: plan an actual race for Jan 1st, 2013. 

Details; I finished in 33:10. Not a PR like the Polar Dash time of (31:23) but I'm content and I kick off a 2 full year of serious running and 3rd year overall....