5K Day

Well, this morning did not go well.

First of all, when I arrived at the park 30 minutes early, there was a huge line of cars waiting along with me to get into the park. One car at a time, we slowly inched forward. There were, of course, the requisite jerks, who were cutting in line as well, so that made it go a little slower. Some people, fearful they would miss the race, just parked alongside the highway, and ran into the park.

At the park's entrance, there was one guy, a kid really, about fifteen years old, who slowly made change for each car's required dollar. With ten minutes to spare, I made it past the teenage gatemaster and into the park. I quickly parked my car, threw my keys under the floor mat, hopped out, and promptly locked the doors. What!!! Yes, that's right, I had just lokced myself out of the car. I knew it right away, but I knew there was nothing I could do about it right then, so I jogged up to the registration table, and got the necessary materials and then walked up to the start line.

As I was stretching, the race coordinators announced that they would be delaying the race because of back-ups at the park entrance, and that instead of starting at 7:00, we would begin at 7:10. Ten minutes later brought another announcement: They would delay another ten minutes, and finally, they managed to get all those runners into the park and the scheduled 7:00 race began at 7:30. This may seem trivial, but that half an hour meant that the temperature rose about five degrees. Before we started, the race announcer warned everyone of the heat index (already a balmy 92 degrees) and advised everyone to take it slow and pace themselves.

It was hot, but I was running right at pace when I passed the 2 mile marker, and the clock read 20:23. Not bad for me since I typically run a ten to eleven minute mile (slow, I know) and that time was right on target for my thirty minute goal. But at 2.5 miles my head started to feel funny. My scalp felt tingly and then I started to see little spots. That's odd I noted, and then I felt the wave of dizziness wash over me. That, I knew was preclusive to fainting, so I slowed my run and started to walk. As soon as I started walking, I felt a surge of heat in my body and my head seemed heavy with blood. I swooned for a second, but kept walking, watching all those behind me run past.

I once fainted at a middle school track meet. It was a hot day in early May and I hadn't eaten much that morning, and just after I finished the 400 meter (what a bitch of a race), I told my friend and teammate that I needed a drink of water and then everything went black. I woke up in the medical tent with a nurse who smelled like orange peel; she was gently patting my head with a cool washcloth and it felt very quiet and peaceful there.

Anyway, I did not faint this morning, but for just the hint of moment, I thought I might. So I walked for about a quarter mile and then I jogged the rest. My time was a disappointing 35:45. Oh well. It was damn hot and I figure I'll do better next time, but my next task was to get into my car. Part of me hoped it would have just unlocked itself, but it was not that considerate, and I had to borrow a fellow runner's cell phone to call home and ask my fiance to come out and bring my spare set of keys.

I thought briefly that I might be able to jimmy the lock with one of my barretts, but I almost got it stuck in the keyhole, so I gave up on that idea and just waited. While I was sitting there in the grass, soaked in sweat, a horsefly landed on my ankle and bit me. That motherfucker did it just to piss me off I'm sure of it.