Happy Birthday to me!!

Yesterday was my 33rd birthday...Yep, folks, you heard that right..this svelte creature before you is 33 years old...hehe...

I really wanted to do a race on my Birthday, so I talked Cheryl and Kim into doing the Spring Fling 5k in Cabot with me. They had run it before, so were pretty obliging..but unbeknownst to me...were dreading it, as the day came. I showed up at Cheryl's, bright and shiny, as I was excited that it had stopped raining and looked like it would be dry for the race! Kim didn't get much sleep and her "cat allergies" were acting up, so she didn't feel the greatest. I did get, however, a fairly chipper "Happy Birthday" from them both...When we left, we noticed that it had gotten colder and more windy, so Cheryl grabbed an extra shirt. We got to Cabot High School and headed to the registration area. This year was a bag, instead of a shirt and mine was pretty empty. Apparently, Kim got the bag that some small, generous child had filled cause it was sagging with tons of stuff! This made her feel a little better, so I couldn't argue with that! We headed to the car to put our stuff away and ran into Andrea...said a quick hello...hopped in the car to get warm...and proceeded to watch with rabid fascination as the couple next to us "geared up" their YOUNG babies to go with them on the run. THEY had several layers and yet somehow, I guess babies don"t get cold? Bare, little red hands can't be good...The wind was really cold and rough by then...

We crossed over the track and jogged a little to warm up, heading to the Elementary school. Miraculously, the sun had peeked out of the clouds and brought some warmth with it, and the wind seemed to die down some. Cheryl took off, with some invisible time goal in her head, as Kim and I lagged behind. My goal was 33 minutes, for my 33rd birthday! I wasn't sure how well I would do, considering I've been in marathon mode and pace for months, and last week in general was hard as far as running goes, especially being sick. Kim and I kept a 9:45-9:55 pace for most of the route and just talked the whole time.


It seemed to fly by and the weather was turning out to be gorgeous! I even got a little warm and had to get some water at the water stop! We finally circled the track, Kim letting me go first "down the chute", although I think our finish time was the same...30:40. I was happy with that..beat my goal and was much faster than i anticipated I would be..no PR or anything, but hey! Cheryl finished at 29:14 and was thrilled! The post-race food was WAY beyond our expectations, as the tables were lined with all kinds of goodies....donuts, brownies, cookies, pretzels, grapes, pineapple, bananas, and more...Why do the shortest races have the best food?? We felt guilty for eating so much after only a half hour of running...but we all agreed, it made the race worth it!

Of course, I don't have to say we went to Starbuck's...oh wait...I just did! We sat and enjoyed our drinks and chatted for a while and Cheryl asked a man nearby to take our picture. After that, we went back to Cheryl's house and I opened my presents. Kim bought me some BEAUTIFUL pillows she saw at Target (pretty much anything at Target is a safe bet!) and Cheryl got me the PediEgg and a gift card to Target. I've been wanting to try thee PediEgg FOREVER! Now I can use it on my "bunionettes"!

I had wanted to go to a Junktique sale I had read about in the paper, but (note to self: read the whole article...) and thought it was in Conway, so me and the girls drove on up to Conway, only to find out it was in Little Rock at Catholic High..geez...Oh well! Just another excuse to stop at Starbuck's once again, and we did find an ineresting flea market type establishment...

After tahat, it was back to NLR and separate ways for the 3 of us...it was a great start to my Birthday!