Ok, so about that race...

There are a few things I wanted to share...

• I actually planned not to go. As a matter of fact, the night before I headed off to bed early because I was exhausted from a pretty stressful week at work. I didn't set the alarm and I didn't plan a "race outfit" (which in my mind is half the fun of racing).
  
  
• At 6am my eyes were wide open and it was completely dark out. Was it my alarm? Did I have a trip down guilty lane and set it up in a last minute after a few glasses of wine?. Nope. The noise was coming from the other side of the bed. No, it wasn't a bear...it was my dear husband snoozing snoring away.
  
  
• I thought about the race...but I said to myself , "come on...you already planned NOT to go...just go back to sleep and pretend this perfectly timed wake-up call never happened". It was too late....I was up. I knew this race, being small, had the potential to give me something I wanted: an award.
  
  
• Without thinking about it too much, I was up and quickly put together an outfit, which I thought was perfect for the occasion. Gave a kiss to my husband and before going back to sleep he said "go get 'em baby!".
  

I drove down and made it just in time. I forgot the camera, but it was a beautiful morning and the race took place in a nice little neighborhood. I felt great but kept looking around...for being a small race, these people sure looked serious. Everyone was stretching, wearing serious running clothes, etc.

I decided t start the race towards the start line..so what if people passed me?...maybe it would stress me out and make me faster. It worked. The race started and I was running like I was being chased by a Grizzly bear/ People were still passing me, which only made me want t go faster.

After a little while I settled into a nice pace, which I knew was faster than my regular pace...but I felt good and was going at it while I could. After about mile 2, this woman in her 70s passed right by me. I was like "wwwwhat?"...I don't think so lady!...yeah, you!..are you calling me slow??. So I picked up the pace and passed her. Then she passed me again, then I passed her (and on and on....you get the point). Then a guy in his 70s joined the fun. Great, I was racing against the two *awesomest* senior runners in the race (and the couple of teenagers a few meters away).

So, yeah. I owe my pace to the Senior runners (who are a true inspiration!!) and I also learned a valuable lesson. No matter how fast and great you think you are, nobody is going to be cheering for you at the finish line if you come right next to the 12 year old boy and the 73 year old lady. I was so happy when I heard the "crowds" (ok, it was like 20 people tops), but then I quickly realized they weren't cheering for me.

The guy in his 70s came up to me after the race and told me I was "Dynamite" and he said I was very fast...HA!...Seriously? God Bless him....but we all know who's Dynamite!

I stuck around for the awards after finding out I came in second in my age group. While I waited I talked and joked around with a really nice couple. The guy is part of the board for the Running Club I joined, and he definitely motivated me to get out there soon and meet the other runners during the group runs.

So that's my story for my first 6K race and instant PR!