The Art of Racing in the Rain

"The race is long - to finish first, first you must finish.” 

-Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain

As I mentioned in my last post, one of my new years resolutions was to always have a race to be training for.  I thought it would be fun to post pictures from every race I complete as proof of my progress and so I can do a fun little recap at the end of the year.   I have already successfully completed one race already this year.  It was the Frigid 5K down in Provo and it was on January 21, 2012.  The course ran along the bottom half of the provo river trail right by Utah Lake.  The starting line, where we picked up our shirts and signed in, was at Utah Lake State park. While we waited for the race to start we had a beautiful view of the frozen lake, it was stunning. 

When it was time for the race to start, they lead us from the state park to the starting line.  Up to this point it had been drizzling rain on and off but when it was time to start racing, it started to POUR rain, and it continued to pour the entire time we were running.

So excited to start racing!

Running the entire race in the rain was actually quite fabulous!  It made it such a fun experience, and it made running three miles rather refreshing and invigorating.  Side note:  We took these pictures after we had finished and eaten some donuts, so our time wasn't in the 50s, it was in the 30s.  I know that isn't super fast but to be honest I am a HORRIBLE runner and had not run three consecutive miles in over a year.  But I ran every bit of this race and felt so proud of myself at the end!  So like the quote I chose for the beginning of this post, before I can finish first in any race first I must finish my first race, which I did! Hooray! 

Upon completing the race, we were all rewarded with hot chocolate and donuts.  Yummy.

Our awesome shirts

we sure did freeze our buns off!

 Seriously, I was soaked to the bone by the time we were on our way home, and I had several layers on to keep me warm, every layer was drenched.  And my hair was stuck all over my face and neck

Before we went home we decided to stop off at Starbucks to get some nice warm drinks to warm up our freezing bodies, it felt and tasted sooooo nice! 

Hopefully this year brings many more fun and exhilarating races!  They are such a fun hobby and excellent for my fitness!