Rainy Day 5K

This morning, I wasn't sure if the race for today would be cancelled or not because of the rain, but apparently only wicked witches melt in the rain, and because I am a good witch, I was able to participate.

I was actually glad for the cloud cover as well as the rain because otherwise a 4:30 pm 5K in Ft Lauderdale would be too warm for me (I do melt in the heat). As it was, the weather fit perfectly into what was my best 5K so far. I finished in 31:48 -- my best time so far, which means I averaged 10:15 minute miles, and I beat my previous time on this course (I ran it a year ago and finished with 32:30).

As I ran, I faced many obstacles, chief of these obstacles were a child and an old lady, both of whom managed to stay just in front of me nearly the whole way. The kid was only knee high to a grasshopper, but he was weaving ahead of me just out of my grasp (if I could have grabbed his shirt collar, I could have flung him into the bushes). Every time I thought I had ground on him, he would kick it into high gear and zoom out in front of me. Finally, at mile two, the ankle biter lost his steam and I left him in the puddles. But I still had this old lady to contend with. She was one of those "hares"; you know, the ones who sprint, then walk, then sprint again (I hate those people, they piss me off). Anyway, her hare technique kept her well ahead of my tortoise approach, and I thought I might never pass her, but finally in the last quarter mile I was able to sustain a steady sprint; whereas, I can only assume her final steps across the finish line were walking steps.

I don't care that I placed 10th out of 13 in my age group: I beat that old lady and that kid, and that was invaluable.

My husband came with me to the race to cheer me on (since it was in the afternoon and he didn't have to bother himself with getting out of bed early) and he snapped these pictures for me. He took one of me coming across the finish line also, but by that time I was like a speeding bullet, and film couldn't accurately capture me (I suppose I'll need to invest in some slow motion technology), so I don't have any action shots for you here. The husband was impressed with the other runners, and by impressed I mean utterly annoyed. He said it was one of the strangest groups of people he'd ever encountered: I readily agreed, counting myself amongst the weirdness.
Another triumph for the Jess; now, I will have to retrain my focus toward a 10K (when that will be is a whole new post -- coming soon to a blog near you).