I Had a Real Weekend and Did Stuff!!

Finally!! A real day out!!

A couple of weekends ago, I ran the Hartford Marathon Foundation Red Dress 5K – I’ve done this one several times and it’s always a fun day. It’s a women’s only event but husbands and dads and sons all show up to support women’s health.

Lots of the women wear a lot of red. I don’t really have much red so I wear what I want and that’s okay!

But let me back up!

Kathy came down on Friday and, after my delayed Thursday run, we headed to the Riverfront in Hartford for the Riverfront Recapture Food Truck Festival. Generally we’d go Saturday after the 5K but Kathy had other plans (and I had 5 more miles to run!) Tons of great food – Kathy had something from the Jamaican truck and I had some Poutine because…fries. We even brought Phred with us since it was all outside and he hasn’t had an adventure in awhile! After we grabbed our food and beers we sat and did a TON of people watching! This even seems to always coincide with ConnectiCon – which means lots and lots of costumes (some of which I even recognized from famous movies like Star Wars!) Also, Jesus was there….???

This stuff is right up my alley, but I skipped for some poutine

We went home and got into jammies pretty early for a night of “scary” movies (quality questionable as always!) – though I think I chose pretty well this time! (The Forest and Shut In – check them out!)

Got up early on Saturday to head to West Hartford for the run/race! At packet pickup there are several tables of various healthcare type booths giving away grocery bags and First Aid kits. The race is held in and around Elizabeth Park which has an amazing rose garden!

The course seems to have changed the last few years, probably due to road work in the area but it’s always a nice one. I kept with my 45:30 intervals for most of the time and managed to keep my pace under 14 so I was happy. The post race treat is a yogurt parfait. Back when I first started doing this 5K the post race treat was strawberry shortcake and, of course, that was my main motivation for doing it in the first place. And sometimes there are extra treats…..I’m looking at you NoRa Cupcakes! Sadly, though, this year there was no NoRa But we did get a rose from some of the event people!