Today was the big day - the Run For The Wild 5K run/walk at the Bronx Zoo. I feel bad that I hadn't trained for it the way I wanted, I haven't walked in about two weeks except for last night. I did 1 mile last night - I do 7 30-second running intervals for 2 miles, and that's how many I did for 1 mile. I was very proud of myself. I only did 1 mile because I didn't want to be sore for today.
We got up bright and early today and got there, parked, got our T-shirts, and were ready to go 10 minutes before the casual run/walkers started. The regular runners started at 8:30, we started at 9. I had every intention of doing some jogging intervals, but there were so many people that it just wouldn't have worked, it was too congested for most of the walk. I'm kind of glad I didn't do any running though, the course was much more difficult than my usual flat, straight line. Very twisty-turny, and a few uphill areas. The worst part was a little bit after the 2 mile mark (with 1 mile to go) we had to walk right by the finish area where they were serving breakfast and had music and activities. I was honestly surprised at how many people "cheated" during this - they crossed taped-off areas to shortcut around a loop, etc. The biggest thing was when we went past the finish area, suddenly there was a lot less congestion. I don't want to think about how many people just stopped there and called it a day without finishing the full 3.1 miles. It makes me sad that people would do that at a fund-raising event.
They didn't have a digital clock at the finish line for the walkers, but by my cell phone, I walked further than I usual do, a harder course than I usually do, and I still beat my best 3-mile time! My best time before this was 1 hour 15 mins, when I finally thought to check my phone, it was exactly 10:15 - and this was after a slow start through the starting line with so many people, and we wasted a few minutes at the finish line taking pictures and such before I finally thought to check the time, so I would guess my actual time was at the very latest 1:12, probably a few minutes faster. Either way, still faster.
We stayed and enjoyed the zoo after the walk and probably walked another 1 or 2 miles. We had planned to go see more at the zoo, but our favorite exhibit was closed down due to budget cuts so we were disappointed, and we were getting too tired to keep going, so we went home earlier than expected. I DID get to meet Jeff Corwin though, which makes me very happy, I respect and admire that man so much. He was there for his own book promotion event and not for the run, but it was an awesome coincidence.
