We officially completed our first 5K!!!! I had a hard time sleeping the night before the race-almost felt like it was the day before the first day of school. I had my clothes set out, had taken a shower and blew out my hair so I wouldn't have to worry about that in the morning. My jet pack and sneakers were waiting by the door. I was lying in bed, begging my mind to stop running through worst case scenarios and to go to sleep. My biggest fear was forgetting my pants. Ridiculous, you say? Read on.

I finally was able to get some sleep, only to wake up at 5:30 a.m. in a panic. I wanted to text sil but didn't want to wake her if there was a chance she was still sleeping. Hubby was beside me fully prepared to sleep through the Bombing of Berlin. He was tired-had spent the day before dutifully making signs and t-shirts for the race. Yes, my 6'5" 260 lb husband likes to craft and will use any excuse that won't challenge his masculinity to do so. His excuse was being a sweet, caring husband. Earlier in our marriage, I would have believed him. Now I know, he just wanted to get his manly hands on some fabric markers.

With no one available to listen to my toddler sized tantrum about my race day fears, I decided I could do nothing else but get ready. I had bought a new pair of compression pants for the race that felt like a seal suit and made me feel like a boss. I also had a black and hot pink t-shirt for breast cancer and hot pink ribbon for my hair to match. After putting the finishing touches on my mascara (a girl's gotta have her mascara :) ) I was ready. And it just wasn't right.

I had flashbacks of Curly Sue, after being scrubbed to high heaven and given a nice, expensive new outfit to where to dinner. Standing in the middle of the bathroom, arms crossed and pouting muttering, "I feel like an idiot."

Just when I was about to lay down on the floor and begin scratching incessantly at my legs (compression pants are itchy...) I received a text from SIL. She was on her way.

Time to buck up. SIL was in my driveway in 6 minutes. It was go-time. I gathered all of my supplies, hopped into her car and we were off.

After a quick stop at McDonald's (nature called) we were finding parking by the race.

Conditions were sub-par. 45 degrees, had rained all night, presently drizzling and 16 mph winds. The race was being held on a peninsula that jets out into the lake.

The parking lot was completely flooded and it was a feat in and of itself just to make it to the road without soaked sneakers.

We finally made it to the race area. A DJ was there playing inspirational music. We looked around and felt like amateurs. Not quite sure why, there were people here who clearly looked more out of shape than we did. Plus, we had jet packs. Wait, we were the only ones with jet packs. Which was a surprising point since they were clear in the race packet there would be no water on the course. I'm pretty sure a couple people got a chuckle out of our packs for a 5K but we didn't care. How else was I supposed to transport my Minnie Mouse chappy, pack of fruity gum or my 20 oz bottle of water? I'm dedicated to this running thing, but not at the expense of dry, cracked lips or less than fresh breath.

Lining up for the race was a bit disorganized. We tried to place ourselves in the middle of the pack towards a side-there were no "corrals". Last minute, they told everyone we were facing the wrong way and there was a lot of frantic pushing and shoving while people tried to get where they thought they belonged. Then, suddenly, a horn blared. Was that it? I thought. Surely that was a false alarm. Nobody said ready, set, GO!

The people in front of me started shuffling there feet and within seconds they were moving. Apparently that horn was it. No, good luck ladies! Start your engines! 1,2,3! Nope. I was somewhat disappointed but started pounding the pavement. The first mile was spent dodging our way through and trying to find an area where we could settle into our pace. We PR'd that first mile-10 minutes! It felt great. We kept on running seeing friends and family cheering us along the way!

Suddenly around 1.5 miles my compression pants were less than "compressiony". I spent the last half of the run desperately trying to keep my pants covering my donkey butt. This was, after all, a running race, and I didn't remember reading anything about bonus points for nudity. Keeping those bad boys hoisted above "see" level, gave me side cramps and made me lose focus. I developed major pain in my right hip flexor around mile 2. Cold weather? Didn't stretch enough? Then became dizzy around mile marker 2.5. I didn't eat anything in the morning since when sil and I run in the morning I never do. Difference is we usually run at 6:30. This race was at 9:00. Next race, I think I'm going to try an english muffin with PB and skip on the compression pants.


Depite first race blunders, we pressed on and made our way to what promises to be only the first of many finish lines!

WE DID IT!

 

 

~J