Race #8 - Loveland Sweetheart Classic

Race Shwag

• Date: February 14th
• Type: Run
• Distance: 4 miles 
• Shwag: The most hideous race shirt ever, a pedometer, a piece of bubble gum

Okay, so let’s start with the race shirt. I’m not generally one to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially since horses scare me a little. However, this shirt is just terrible. While I appreciate the hearts with their sneakers and determined faces, the pink color is just abysmal. (It’s also very pepto bismol). I know they’re going for a Valentine’s Day theme and all but aren’t the hearts enough? Yes, the hearts are enough. 

Despite the shirts, the Sweetheart Classic was a nice little community race and I’m glad that I did it. I had lots of company on this one: Steph and Jenny joined me again, as did Dan (a Loveland resident), his training partner, Michele, and fellow Monkey, Amy. Plus, the IPA endurance crew was out in full force. It was great to see so many familiar faces on the course and at the finish line.  

Since I had just finished a 30-day “clean challenge” at my CrossFit gym, I had mostly been doing CrossFit, and not much else. While I like CrossFit and think that it definitely gets you fit, it doesn't take the place of god old-fashioned running. That became pretty apparent to me around mile #1. But, CrossFit makes you really good at suffering, and that came in handy for miles 2 – 4.

Around mile two I started wishing I were running a 5k. It would have been nice to be almost done, as opposed to only halfway done. And, since it was a loop, I was two miles away from my car and had to finish no matter what. I guess the good news is that the three mile mark was when I finally started to feel warm. The bad news is the 3.5 mile mark was where I started to feel pukey. I could see the finish line but it seemed so far away. How long is half a mile anyway? Longer than you might think.

After what seemed like an excessively long time, I crossed the finish line (without puking) and reunited with my peeps. Once we were all back together, we made plans for breakfast. Since Dan is training for the Phoenix marathon, he wanted to get in a few extra miles before we chowed down. While he took off for a cool-down run, Jenny, Stephanie, and I ran amok in Loveland. There are a lot of really interesting sculptures in Loveland, which kept us entertained for a while, as did the Valentine’s Day festival  and the signs posted all over town.  

There are signs all around town, from people
declaring their love for one another 

But if it doesn't work out, you can get a DIY divorce

After our fun was over, we reunited with Dan for an awesome breakfast at Doug's Day Diner. While Dan can’t necessarily be counted on to accurately assess the difficulty, distance, or duration of a run (who remembers Hall Ranch last year?), he never disappoints with his assessment of food. Sometime after noon, we finally  made our way back to Boulder, full, happy, and ready for a nap. Not at all a bad way to spend Valentine’s Day.