Race Day

I DID IT!! I ran my first successful race. A 5K that was a benefit for the Special Olympics. My nerves were so raw that I was a wreck! I had even given thought to just not running. I thought about skipping it altogether,l but many runners told me that it is common to get pre-race jitters and that they still do. So, John drove me up to the starting point and then it was just a given that I was actually going to run!

It was an absolutely beautiful fall morning here. Brisk, very brisk at 7:00AM sign -in. I was a tad under dressed, but knew that once I was running too many clothes would drive me crazy. I hate to be too hot while running. They had given us a goody bag that included a tee shirt, so I put that on and it gave me that extra little bit of coverage that was enough for the chill morning air.

I was so nervous that it took me a few minutes to find my stride and breath. When we first started running I felt very short of breath, but then decided that I probably wasn't even breathing!! :-) The sun was coming up and all the trees were blazing in full fall leaf color! It was brilliant. We headed east, a few times, but for the most part they had a route that kept the sun out of our eyes. There were a few splendid times when I was able to see the glistening dew on the grass as the sun was hitting it.... just magnificent!! Even though I had my ipod on I was able to think to myself,"What a fantastic morning". I was getting such a thrill out of just seeing the path that they had us running. It was all parts of town and a trail that I have never run before.

They had people along the route that would clap for you and shout encouragement as well. Made me smile. I even got to grab the cup of water from the guy at the water table, take a few sips and then throw it down like I was some real runner!! Wow, I guess that day I was.

As I was coming in to the finish line I could see the big clock that had the time. It was 39 minutes and I just did not want to be past 40 minutes, so I ran as hard and fast as I could. I made it across in 40:02. I was also not dead last!! Out of 294 runners I was 290. Not bad for a first race. The feeling of personal satisfaction lasted for hours. As someone who never could see any reason to run I was feeling pretty damn good about it.