River Bound Race 5k

I can feel the still unhemmed and un-elasticized waist Seattle pants staring at me from across the room. It would probably take me 15 minutes (okay, 30 minutes. I'll allot a little time to sew my finger into the waist and undo that snafu), but I just don't have it in me tonight. I also have a Redbox movie on top of the DVD player. I picked it up tonight around 7pm and it already escapes me what movie I chose.

At 5:15am I heard Stella in her room. Crying. And not stopping. So I went in to see what was the matter. The room was still dark, so I couldn't see anything. I felt around in her crib. She was lying on her back, and I could feel the warm tears rolling down her face, gave her a little pat, and told her it was still night-night.

She responded with a pitiful, 'kay. And I guess she fell back asleep. I know I did. Until I heard her again at 6:15. Again, I tried to get her to go back to sleep, but she wasn't interested this time. And I didn't try very hard, after all, my alarm was set to go off at 6:30. I was bound for the river race 5k.

I brought some coffee, cereal and Stella back to our bed, and leisurely shared bites of Gorilla Munch (the only cereal we had left. No Grape-Nuts for mommy.) and leisurely drank my coffee. A little too leisurely. Suddenly my plans for arriving at the Whitewater Center by 7:30 were completely squashed. It was 7:15 and I had no one to blame but myself.

I got there at 7:50. Ran to the start. Already sweating and realizing that once again, I forgot my water bottle. And I also have to use the facilities, but there is no time. Fortunately I knew one of the volunteers giving out the bibs, so he bumped me up to the front of the line, passing by a pack of guys. I didn't make any friends at that moment. But it was 7:56 and I had my bib and shoe chip.

I hopped on one foot, while chipping my shoe, bibbing my shirt, and racing to the start line. Made it. Apparently I was not alone in being a few minutes behind, because we waited and waited and waited to start. For ten minutes I went back and forth about having enough time to run to the potty, but at 8:10, the crowd moved, and we were off. But I figured it was no big deal. I was already sweating before I crossed the start.

5k. It went fast. Very fast. It's been a few weeks since I've been out there to run. I've missed it terribly. The up and down. The concentration of my footing. The occasional leap that is made across a large tree root, and a clomping stomp into a puddle of mud that beckons to be sploshed. At the start someone remarked that it would be at least ten degrees colder in the woods. That has yet to be the case. It's still steamy. I quickly felt the weight of my shirt as it grew a darker purple with dripping sweat.

They had water at one mile, but I declined. I saw an opening to get around a few folks that I had early in the race chosen as my "must pass" people. At two miles, I vaguely considered stopping to barf. I wasn't alone in that thought either. There were a few people stopping and bending over and looking questionable. I decided to step back a bit, didn't push ahead of a few more "cannot let them beat me" people, and chose the steady finishes the race comfortably approach.

When the 15kers and 5kers broke off, I felt a pang of guilt, shame, disappointment? I don't know exactly. Ten minutes earlier I was ready to barf, then I was sad that I wasn't continuing on. I caught a glimpse of a couple of guys in front of me that needed to be passed. Dig deep, I thought. So I did.

33:15(?). STILL can't get under a 10 minute mile. I waited around to see the results. I was 5th in my Seniors (35-39) division. All I could think about were the moments I hung back and didn't charge forth. Next time.