Sh** Happens.

Another weekend, another race.  Today’s race was the Taste of the Valley 5K.  Taste of the Valley is one of the many food festivals that happen in Western Mass, and anytime there’s food, I’m interested.

The race starts & finishes around the West Springfield town common, and has one climb that’s slightly more than a half mile in length.  Luckily the hill is in the first mile, so there’s plenty of recovery time.  My goal was to break 24 minutes, but with a sore knee this morning I was just hoping to run pain free.

During my warm-up it felt good, but continued to hurt if I was standing still or walking.  The race started, and I felt good.  I slowed a little on the uphill, but still managed to make the first mile in 8:00.  Now it was time to pick it up.  I managed to run negative splits for the day (8:00, 7:53, & 7:42).  I finished in 24:16.  Not exactly what I had hoped for, but it’s my best 5K time since January 1^st.

After the race, I took advantage of the $5 food voucher that came with the entry, and had a pulled pork sandwich from “The Ultimate BBQ”.  I followed that up with a fruit cup from “EdibleArrangements” and a “Be Hoppy IPA” from Wormtown Brewery in Worcester, MA

All in all, it was a great day, with one exception.  After the race, I discovered that what I felt hitting the brim of my visor wasn’t an acorn or anything from the tree, it was a gift from one of the little birdies… Sh** Happens!