A Clear Day

What a day for a race, the sky is clear, the air is crisp and I am so excited. We had a great, big breakfast in the hotel restaurant, then gathered our gear, met up with Dawn and her girls and we were off.

It really isn't fair that they put the start line 6 blocks away, then you have to walk back from the start line to where your time station is. Well if I start that far back, it would take me 20 minutes just to get to the start line, I'll already be shot. So we just stop and wait with the fast runners. Soon enough they have started the race, and we're moving. I'm walking, yes, I'm walking, I want to run, but I refrain. I know it will be a long day, so I need to pace myself.

We all start together, Johnette, and Dixie and I. This is just the coolest thing, to be in a huge crowd like this. After about a half mile, Johnette has dropped behind, and we are still moving strong. Finally there is the first mile marker, and I find that I am going about 20 minutes per mile. That is really good for me. But about this time, Dixie is stepping off, and I am left in the dust. It is a long time before people stop passing me. I see Lonnie and Kristine as they pass me by, and there is Dawn coming back from the first loop. But it's alright, just keep going.

Well I think maybe I'm last, so I decided to pass some people. I have to run to do it, but once done, they aren't getting by me again. It was a long day, well, not really but it sure felt like it, and there were times, I just didn't know if I could make it. But not finishing just wasn't in my plan for the day, so I just kept moving.

Dixie finished before any of us, before Lonnie and Kristine, before me, and she is the oldest. You see it doesn't matter where you are when you start. Just start. Dixie's time was 4:07. That is just amazing to me. What a trooper. And she didn't even look winded.

I finished in 4:29. I wanted to be done under 4:30, so I just made it.

Our little friend Johnette just couldn't make it, though she tried. She did about 61/2 miles. She had a lot of obstacles, and being sick was not any help.

The funniest thing about all of this, at about mile 9 I began to think of how long a walk it had been from our hotel to the starting line, and knowing that the finish line was in the same place, well,,,,,,,,,,,,,I was so bummed that when this race is over, I still have to walk 7 blocks back to the hotel, MERCY!!! how will I make it.

We did though, and we all got into a nice cold bath, that was torture. Then I got into bed and me and my heating pad were a couple for the rest of the day. My oh, my will I ever be able to walk normally again????