IN WITH THE NEW (Shelby Township - 2020 - 5K)

 In With The New 2020 Photos

45 Mile Drive

I don’t know what I was thinking.  I ran the 2020 In With the New 5K the morning after running at Belle Isle and having Frye’s Rockin’ Eve until 2:30 in the morning the night before.  Add those to the struggle of recovery from sickness and I was a hot mess.  We still got up and made it out to Shelby Township for a running company I like a lot, Move-It Fitness. Winter Loops (another great Move-It Fitness run) is one of my favorite winter races.  Move-It-Fitness is known for their hilly trail runs and their ultra-running event, 24 hour Twilight Zone!  I didn’t have much time to spare when we arrived.  I was able to get up into the first wave and get a good morning glimpse of the sun through the trees.  Everyone watched movies in the car until I got back.

After I complete my Michigan City Challenge I sometimes think I only want to run trails. I love trail running.  It is more difficult and a tad more dangerous, but the raw beauty makes up for it.  Courses can change so much in nature, sometimes even as you are running.  I have never run at River Bends Park.  It was gorgeous.  We ran up hills, next to a river for a while, in real tight trails for a long portion of the course finishing on a sunny snow lined walking path that could fit five runners next to one another.  I stopped to let a handful of runners pass me as I caught my breath and took scenery shots.  I am so thankful we got a light snow fall.  It made the course sparkle in the sun.  I have been missing snow.  We’ve had so little snow this winter.

I loved the Move-It Fitness volunteer playing sweet jams (see my short video).  This course was exceptionally tough for me due to an array of factors working against me. I have never wanted to stop and walk more, but I somehow managed to keep moving. I had fun and enjoyed the trails. I am extremely humbled after the last 30 days. Sickness without any sort of muscular or bone injury can take you out just as hard as the serious things we worry about most often as runners.  My immune system has been extremely compromised since leaving Winterfest on November 30th.  I have quite the recovery road ahead of me this winter.

As I approached the finish line I saw two women cheering finishers on in Unicorn onesies!!!  I went up to them, complimented their outfit choices and took their picture.  After finishing I got water and a granola bar off of a nice picnic table setup they had.  I did my stretching under the picnic table pavilion. A very nice woman took my picture next to their race banner.  I wore my very old YakTraks.  I thought for sure they would fail where the seam was coming undone.  With only a hairline string of rubber left they somehow made it.  I am ordering new ones this week. Mine are two years old.  They’ve kept me safe through a lot of intense Michigan winter runs.  I didn’t see many other runners with Yak Traks on.  A few people commented seeing mine (including the finish line unicorns!).  

My family came out and had fun with sticks in the snow before we left.  We couldn’t eat lunch at a local resturant in Shelby because everything was closed for the holiday. We did however score Tim Hortons and Wendy’s on the way home. 

My two New Year’s runs were different but shared important things in common.  They both had awesome groups of people at the finish, great winter scenery and finisher medals!!! I was so excited to have finisher medals two days in a row. I believe in finisher medals because every participant has a different background and story.  If someone finishes ten minutes after another person it does not mean they did not work as hard to make it across the finish line.  Before starting my Michigan City Challenge I would rarely run at events without finisher medals.  Now I receive finisher medals at about 6 out of 10 runs I do.  Many small towns do not get finisher medals made.  Having medals designed adds to cost.  Shirts are great run memories, but are not the same as getting handed a finish line medal.  

Things I take away from In With the New are as follows: 

1. The picture Corky and I got by the park sign.  He nailed it. He knows he’s a model.
2. The difficultly we had in finding the Shelby Township city sign. We drove around for a while.  I reached out to Kristin a.k.a “ Marathon Queen."  She helped us in finding it.  After getting the picture we saw the back of the sign said, “Welcome to Shelby Township” as we drove away.  We came back to get the other side. 
3. The broken left hand turn light that Jason finally gave up and on drove through after waiting eight minutes….It was insane!! 
4. Beautiful New Years morning sun and trails. Until Winter Loops in February, I thank Move-It Fitness for another outstanding date with nature. 

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