So, my birthday was very fun...I would even go ahead and say "too much fun". I did turn 32, not 22...I probably should have said "no" to a shot or two. Hahaha. Anyway, all's well now.
I signed up for two 5k's this Halloween weekend. The first was Saturday morning - the Screamin' 5K. Friday night I worked until about 10-ish, and it was raining and brrrrrrrr freezing when I left. Oh, it was so cold. I said a prayer that the weather would miraculously change by morning, but it surely didn't "work". When I rolled out of bed it was 30-something degrees and STILL raining. And so, so, so dark. I got dressed and got in the car, but I promise you I was still debating whether to actually run or not. I had all the excuses lined up - couldn't even get warm in the van because the heat wasn't working!! When I pulled into the parking lot, I ran into the building and immediately decided to stay. There were all types of people in there, the heat was on full blast, and the "aura" was just so positive!! It was a very small race, I think 170 people total? Compared to the other 5K's I've been in (all 2), where thousands were racing!! So, I signed in, pinned on my number, and waited for further instructions. I saw people who were obviously great/fast runners, I saw people who didn't appear in great shape, some in costume...it was a great atmosphere! I kept thinking, I know I can run this in less than 30 minutes...I'm not going to die of hypothermia in 30 minutes! Ha. When the race director got up to let us know we were leaving in 5 minutes, I got a little nervous and excited and mostly NERVOUS. The rain was really coming down and all I had was a long sleeved thermal under a t-shirt! I decided to wear my fleece, even though I know that's not exactly ideal in the rain. I also had mittens on, but decided against any hat. I was wearing my usual running skirt with knee-high socks....and my beautiful, fast Kinvaras. We headed outside to the starting line (no chips in this race) and the guy yelled "GO!"
Did I mention how freakin' cold it was?!?!?!? Oh, holy wow. I took off. SO determined to just get back to the heat. I swear the rain started coming down harder, it was miserable. I got excited at the Mile 1 marker when the guy told me "8:16" - nice! I wasn't even feeling it! My toes and nose were numb, snot was running down my face...I kind of wasn't feeling anything, I guess. HA! I was really running by myself for a while, passed a couple of people, but nobody passed me. We got to the turnaround and I realized I really wasn't crazy far back from the front runners...but then my legs got a little tired (or less numb). I don't mind running by myself, but it's not as much fun in a race. Just before mile 2 was done, a woman caught up to me. She appeared my age (turns out she is 40), so I wanted to stay with her and I definitely did NOT want her to see me walk! I told her she was the motivation I needed...but then she fell behind again? When we got up to the final bit, she appeared next to me again and said "This is it..." then proceeded to take OFF! I was quite impressed, but really didn't think I could catch up. I ended up finishing several seconds after her...since there wasn't anyone keeping official time at the finish line (I mean, someone was, but not any of the volunteers I talked to), I asked her what time she had...she said 26:41!!! This turned out to be my official time, too!!! (Her official time was 26:22 and she actually placed first in her age group)
I WAS SO EXCITED!!!! That is a PR by 1:27!!! I was so happy to have completed the race and done well and I was so fired up for the rest of the day...it was beautiful....
Bed time...I'll tell you about the zombie run tomorrow!
xoxo
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