I didn't race... but THEY did!

This past Saturday I watched my best buds race in the Sallie Jones Winter Waddle 5k. The Waddle was the last local race of 2008 and was in its inaugural year. I opted not to race due to my calf injury (I did collect my t-shirt), so instead I played photographer... and had a BLAST doing it!

The morning started out COLD! It was about 45F at race time with some gusty winds a blowing. The temp was similar to the Turkey Trot, but with the windchill factored in... brrrr-a-licious! This was not a race for heat-pampered Florida wimps!

Sondra, Jeff and Scott huddled for warmth before the start of the race.

The race was a teeny one, with only 68 people participating. There are good elements and bad elements about small races. On the one hand, you don't get trampled on at the start AND you don't have to wait a few minutes after the gun goes off to actually get to the start. Of course, smaller races also increase your chance of getting some hardware. On the other hand, once people spread out, you often feel like you're running all alone and without the thrill of the chase, PRs tend not to happen. This particular race started without a hitch and just as I anticipated, everyone was fairly spread out by mile marker 1.

Scott has been slowly but surely trying to increase his training miles. I keep joking with him that if he would only log more than 8 miles a week he would be quite a dangerous runner! That being said, he did lop another 19 seconds off of his 5K time and finished things up with a 24:58. Congrats, baby! I'm super proud of you!

Kim, a resident blogger, has a forefoot landing that most folks would be envious of, and although she's been plagued with injuries for the past few months she was a real trooper at this race! Her leg hurt her a few times during the run, but she never gave up. Definitely stop by her blog to read her full race report.

My best friend Sondra is not only the sweetest girl you could ever hope to meet, I guarantee you that she's also one of the most dedicated athlete's out there. Drive and determination come second nature to her. Sondra finished the race in 29:24. She may have been a wee bit disappointed in her time, but she completely gutted it out in ugly, cold conditions... and smiled the entire time!

And in the end... everyone walked away with some hardware! Kim had gone home for a training run and missed receiving her gold medal for the 40 -49 age group; but we stuck around to find out that both Scott & Sondra would be taking home bronze medals for their efforts. I'm SO proud of you both! YAY!

I thought it was going to KILL me to watch everyone run that day, but I was surprised to learn that I love watching nearly as much as I love racing! Must be all of that varsity cheerleading that I did back in HS. It's truly a lot of fun watching those that you love succeed. They all did terrific and I had a blast capturing their moments on film!

Up next on the race front: River, Roots and Ruts 1/2 Marathon Relay with Sondra. Dear calves of mine... behave!!!

ETA: After a strict 9 day diet of no running or any other activity that might put pressure on my gastroc and soleus, I am super happy to report that my test run went awesome this morning! I had planned to do a very easy 2 mile run/walk with bouts of stretching just to make certain that I took things nice and easy. Well, the 2 miles turned into 3 miles with no walking; however, I did stop and stretch every 1/2 mile during the first 2 miles. I didn't feel any pain, any twinges... nothing! Yay! I wouldn't declare myself healed (I'm not that naive), but at least I know that I can handle easy running again.