BDay #24

I'm writing this to say that the tradition of running 5Ks on my birthdays, established last year, is alive and well. The main message of the tradition is to show that I spend my bdays as I want (running), not as you want (parties, presents, and that).

There were basically two parts to my birthday: the Color Me Rad 5K Pittsburgh and everything else.

Color Me Rad 5K

This is kind of a family/friends fun event. I mean, not very competitive. You start out in a white t-shirt, and they throw corn-based paint bombs at you. They give out crazy reflective sunglasses to protect the eyes.

Although I did a mile race, two fast-paced six-mile runs, and a tempo within three days before the race, I was going to race the 5k to the extent of my remaining powers.

Ben, Ashwini, and I arrived in the afternoon, to start at 1p.

The hardships of white men.

The task was simple, as always: get from the start to the finish. It's cool how the gates mimic the colors of t-shirts.

I was like a dozen seconds late for the start because the organizers decided to start the race five minutes earlier. You can imagine my panic when I'm doing my favorite form drills some 150m away from the start and suddenly hear a ten-second countdown. I had to run on the side and then jump the barrier to get in.

The first half of the race was on pretty rough stones with lots of turns, and I kept misstepping and losing my stride. Luckily nobody decided to challenge my lead, and I followed the red car alone for the whole race, effectively winning my heat.

Here are the videos of Ben and me running:

The finish line emerged a couple of minutes earlier than I expected. From this I concluded that the course is at least 500m short, and my 15:55 has little connection to reality (so my 5K pr remains the same, left untouched from my previous bday 5K in Anaheim, CA).

Instead of a solid finish gate, below is what I actually had to cross (can notice my legs down there).

Ben made it to the end a bit later.

Then we celebrated our awesome colorful run.

Verdict: Color Me Rad was lots of fun, but the lack of any meaningful competitors makes a 5k slightly boring. I'm not sure if I'd be excited to do this race again.

Rad photo and video credit: Ashwini.

Everything Else

I mention only the highlights. The rest of my birthday weekend was marked by:

• Visiting ducks and geese in the Allegheny river.

• Enjoying a brand-new massage machine that also works on calves.

• Checking out cool cars in de dahntahn.  

• Attending an old people's opera concert in Frick.

• Being proud of Pittsburgh.

• Getting a blessing of the mighty Point State Fountain (finally opened yay!).

A rainbow is there, too.

• Recalling how annoying and artificial birthdays are. Grieving over the fact that the only people who publicly say no to birthdays are driven by religion.

P.S. The track of the day.