I'm Embarrassed to Brag

But I must. I ran my first race(let) today. I'm not calling it a real race because it was only a mile, but I went! I was so chicken, but luckily my friend Alyssa agreed to go with me. Never having done one of these events before, I just had no idea what to expect. The distance didn't phase me at all, but I was worried I would be totally outclassed with all the real runners.

It was a fabulous experience! There were people there of all shapes and sizes, and I immediately felt more comfortable. I only made one mistake before we started: I went to the bathroom. I know that seems like a very innocuous decision, buuuut I had my ID, credit card, and car key in the back waistband pocket of my pants. Well, as we left the bathroom, my car key was gone! Crap. We looked and looked and left a message with the person working at the desk at the Y. No luck. Well, the race started and about 0.1 miles in I felt something on my leg and then heard a click behind me. It was my key! Who knows how I didn't feel it, but I didn't. Anyway, it made the rest of the race much more enjoyable.

We were just chugging along, and I felt like I was moving but not totally killing myself. With this being the first time, I didn't want to be a total loser. We ran past a bunch of houses, and lots of the occupants were out on their lawns cheering us on. It was really nice. We did a little "leapfrogging" and would walk a little and run a little, but we really did run most of the way. I think it could have been even more if it wasn't so sticky. Ugh, the humidity was awful. Before I knew it, the finish line was in sight, and we pushed hard to finish strong. The visible timer said we finished in 12:30 or so, but we knew it had to be under that since we weren't at the front of the pack when they said go. Later the result were posted online, and we actually finished in 11:59! Wow! For my first race, after having had a stress fracture, and just not being a natural runner, I was honestly pleased. In fact, I had so much fun that I am seriously considering the 3k that is coming up in August. It's an evening run, so that would be interesting. Who knows, I may get to where I don't suck yet.

And now, for photographic proof that I made it to the finish. Please excuse the very frizzy hair.

Shortly after this was taken, we each procured our free bloody mary and walked our way back to the car. Thanks Macklind Mile. I expect I'll be back next year.