Football season is finally here! My fantasy football league had our draft earlier today. I think I managed to build a decent roster despite this error showing up multiple times:

More importantly, the return of football season means heading downtown to tailgate with lifelong friends and cheer on my Jaguars. This year, the Jacksonville Jaguar Foundation brought back an awesome 5K race that takes you through the team’s practice fields, up and down the ramps  of the stadium and finishes on the field. The best part is they have cameras set up, so you can see yourself run on the world’s largest video boards right before the finish line. And the proceeds go to a great cause – youth sports and fitness programs in northeast Florida.

This race was set for Saturday evening. My non-competitive runner wave started at 6:15 in what felt like 100 degree weather.  I never know what to eat or drink for evening races. Morning races are pretty straightforward. Wake up, drink some water, eat some toast with peanut butter and head out the door.  Right before the race, I was at my friend Andrea’s daughter’s first birthday party – surrounded by delicious Spanish food and only let myself have a few bites.

While waiting for the race to start, I talked to two nice women who drove down from Valdosta for the race. They asked me how tough it was going to be with the ramps after I told them I ran the same race three years ago. I was surprisingly positive and said the inclines aren’t so bad (big fat lie – they suck when you’ve already ran a mile in 110 degree heat. ) The ladies advised me to invest in a runner’s belt after seeing my keys tied up in my shoelaces. I wore shorts with no key pocket and thought that would be better than carrying them. Big mistake – they fell out a quarter mile in and I had to stop, retie my shoe and then run holding my keys.

My legs were not ready for those inclines. I had to walk up two of them. I definitely need more practice running up and down hills before my half marathon in San Francisco. I had tickets to a beer festival happening downtown at the same time as the race, so I just kept picturing cold beer waiting for me when my legs got sore.

I didn’t get a PR and now I wish I had stopped and gotten a picture of myself on the MASSIVE video boards. Running on the field is a really cool experience and I always look over to section 142 where I spend game days with my friends who have season tickets. It would have been nice for the race to start later so that runners could get the “under the stadium lights” experience.

I crossed the finish line and a wonderful volunteer took my timing chip off my shoe and retied it. God bless those volunteers. I grabbed a banana and managed to find a friendly stranger to take my picture with my race medal before leaving for the beer festival.

I can’t wait until the next time I climb those ramps – this time to see the Jaguars play.