so the day before Easter, i ran in the crescent city classic, which i’ve done for the past few years, excluding last year when i was out because of injury. the race went okay, and it was made much better because it was the first time i ran it with my ipod. only thing is i wish i had made a new playlist before running.

i was able to find a parking spot pretty easy, make it down to the shuttle bus and down to the start. they have port-a-johns near the start where everyone lines up, so i got in line for one. the race started while i was in line, but i figured i could catch up later. after dodging and weaving through people for the first two miles, i was finally able to reach a normal pace. the ipod said i ran 6.5 miles in 1:01, but i don’t know if that’s because it was off measuring or it was because i actually ran that far after the zigging and zagging through the crowd. i don’t mind having to go around walkers, but there were some people who weren’t even trying to power walk it. strolling along the route is not cool, especially when you are strolling 4 or 5 across in a crowd. i had to slow down a few times in the first two miles, but that wasn’t too bad. i keep saying one of these years i’ll start farther up or something.

i got my shirt and headed to the tent i signed up for through work. i love the post race tent, because i can sit quietly and eat fruit or whatever and not be bothered by all the commoners waiting in giant lines for a granola bar and a bottle of water. it is totally worth the $9, and if i didn’t have to get back and do laundry, i would have stayed longer and maybe drank some beer. i ate an orange and banana, drank a gatorade, then left and went home, because i had to get back and pack for Europe. i was able to get home and showered by 12, which was awesome.

here’s my official race photo…i wonder if anyone actually buys bigger versions of these. i thought i was giving the pistol fingers to the camera, but apparently i may have been doing that to the wrong camera and the picture was snapped before or after i thought it was going to be. there’s just a gaggle of photogs on a crane over the road taking pictures of everyone, so you really have no idea who’s taking your’s.

speaking of packing for Europe, i made a late game decision and scrapped bringing the backpack i had bought and went with a rolling duffel bag that Lori had told me she had gotten at target. it worked out a lot better than the backpack. i first started having doubts when i read about how the frame could be damaged if it was dropped while loaded, and since i was planning on checking the backpack, i didn’t like the idea of the frame being bent or something. so, on the way to the hornets-celtics game, i stopped at target and got the duffel bag. it worked out excellent, plus i’ll return the backpack today and get my money back for it, which after the trip, i could use some extra cash.

i know my handful of readers probably want to hear about it, and you will, but right now i’m having to get things settled to pack again to go to Charleston this weekend for the Bridge Run. speaking of running, i need to go run for the first time since the CCC so i’m not completely out of shape for Saturday. about Europe though, i took about 461 pictures, so it’ll take a while to go through and post to flickr or facebook. i will leave you with one from Tuesday night as i celebrated my birthday with a few friends in a real Irish pub.