Walnut Creek Half Marathon and 5k Training Run

Yesterday the folks at Walnut Creek International Half Marathon and 5k held their first of many training runs. I really wanted to do this race last year but there are always so many events at the end of the year and coaching makes it difficult to train for a long distance event at this time of the year. I knew this year I would be in the same situation and I promised myself no long distance running until after I complete my first triathlon in April 2013, so instead I signed up for the 5k distance. I had a 45 minute run on the schedule for yesterday but I also had my second introduction to Crossfit class at noon so I decided running their 5k training run seemed like a good compromise to get everything in that I wanted to (they also offered a 10k distance).

I arrived at Sports Authority in Walnut Creek a little bit before 8am with a bunch of other runners. I had actually never been into the store before, it's huge. They also gave all of the runners a $10 cash card to use in store, so it was a great way for them to capture new business like myself.

If you live in the bay area you know that we have been experiencing a heat wave this week and yesterday was no exception. I was ready to get my run on early and try to recover before heading out to Crossfit. The plan (which I was not aware of) was to run to Heather Farms and if you knew what the plan was you were to have left your car there. If you didn't get that memo you could just walk back to the store. This didn't really mesh with my plans and I certainly didn't want to walk 3+ miles back to the store after running 5k and then going to Crossfit. I wasn't all that worried about it, I had my Garmin and I've run in Walnut Creek enough times to know how to get myself back so I figured I could do my own thing. Luckily right before we headed out we were told there was a turn-around point which he would stop to point out at which point he and the only 2 people who apparently parked at Heather Farms would run on.

I ran slow and just tried to enjoy myself. I also obeyed all traffic lights, because we all know that's how I roll. It was already warm in Walnut Creek and by the time I got back to the store I was dripping in sweat. They had Gatorade, water, bananas and granola bars for us when we got back. I have to say this was one of the few times where Gatorade was actually a welcome site.

They raffled off a training shirt and a free entry into the race and also handed out water bottles and coupons for free Peet's Coffee (yay!).

It sounds like there will be about 5 more of these training runs which I hope to take part in. Mostly because it's nice to mix up my runs and scenery. I believe the next run is on August 25th. If you sign up for their newsletter or follow them on Facebook or Twitter you can get the updates.

Tomorrow I'll tell you all about my second experience with Crossfit!