Bronx Zoo 5k - What a Day!

Wow, what a fantastic day. Woke up at 5:45 am to get up and meet Trish, Sam, Ansel, Ted, and Libby to cram into a mini-car and drive up to the Bronx Zoo. After getting heckled by a man who was impressed by my calves, we piled into the car and were on our way. I pounded some water and ate a banana, and Trish stank the car up with protein-rich hard boiled eggs.

Classic moment: as we pull into the zoo, "Welcome to the Jungle" is blasting from the speakers in the start area right as Axl starts to scream the title lyrics - Trish and I couldn't help but crack up. What a way to start the day.

We arrived wayyy too early but it was a good thing - closer to race time the registration lines were out of control. I drank so much water I had to pee three times beforehand, and needed to go a fourth time right before race time but the line was too long ... so I ended up running with a full bladder - not fun.

Also not fun was the fact that I had spent so much time reinstalling my Nike+ iPod kit onto my new sneakers last night (installing meaning sewing some velcro onto the part underneath my laces and attaching the Nike+ transmitter to it since I wear Asics, not Nikes) and finding out at the start of the race that my receiver wasn't connecting to the transmitter. That meant I couldn't have an encouraging voice periodically let me know how I was doing, how much I had run, etc.

The pleasantness of the course, however, made the run COMPLETELY fun. After I gave up with the Nike+ kit and relgated to just blasting the playlist I made last night, I fell into a great pace and totally enjoyed the perfectness of the temperature and the scenery around me. The mile 1 marker came up so quickly because I enjoyed myself so much. I found myself looking for the mile 2 marker as we started going up and down some inclines, which I wasn't used to. But the last mile was wonderful and I was high-fived by some men in gorilla suits as I crossed the finish line at about 26 minutes flat - a time that I was very, very happy with. Former NFL player Tiki Barber was running too, and I am proud to say I came in before he did!

Everyone felt great about themselves after the race. I believe everyone in our crew got a faster time than they expected. We meandered over to the gorilla exhibit which was absolutely incredible - they were out in full-force and so close to us behind the thin glass barrier. We watched some baby gorillas wrestle and play. We also watched a 26-year-old female devour a head of lettuce inches from us, then throw it up in her hands, and eat it again.

We passed by a giant grizzly bear swimming happily in his pool, a polar bear happily licking a bowl of something, some beautiful giraffes on the plains, and some tigers sunbathing lazily.

I would love to go back with my camera on a beautiful day like today and take some pictures. I went in the beginning of the month but it was still too cold for most of the animals to be outside like they were today. But today wasn't really about touring the zoo at a leisurely pace anyway; it was about running the 5k through it to raise money for the gorillas.

I'm so happy to say I did all of that and caught a train back to my parents' house all before noon - what a fantastic morning.