A little pre-story. The week of the race, my school put an advertisement for the run on our marque. This is highly unusual for us since we are a private school and don't advertise anything that doesn't somehow correlate to our learning environment. I asked my Director why we were advertising (I thought they had formed a team without me or something). She said the owner of the building is on the chamber of commerce and actually supported the run monetarily. A light-bulb went off in my head. I told my director I was running. She then decided that I could represent our school by wearing a T-shirt. They reimbursed me for my entry fee AND paid me my hourly rate for two hours worth of work. So, for the first time ever... I had a SPONSOR!!!
So, the night before the race, I used my Itunes gift card (from Christmas!!!) to download a whole new playlist. I was tired of the same running songs. I also uploaded them to my Ipod Nano, as I was going to clip that on my shorts instead of caring my phone with me. The arm band that goes around my phone sweats underneath and it bothers me. All this running and being sweaty in weird places bugs me! Ha! That was a chore! I had to use the regular computer and all kinds of craziness. 2 hours later, all done! And ready to rumble!
The morning of the race, I woke up with my alarm clock. I jumped out of bed and took a shower. I thought MAYBE having a wet head would keep me a little cooler. It's June in Texas yo! HOT TAMALES!!!! I was totally ready to go when I woke Troy and Josh up. They are so slow! Must be nice to sleep in every single day! Anyway, off we went.
This race was HUGE!!! 800 timed runners. 1200 Runners total. I was intimidated for sure!! I tried to keep my composure as I danced and played around with Troy. I laughed as I saw some "hard core" runners with fanny packs filled with water bottles and shot blocks. A shot block for 3 miles? REALLY? I've run 6 miles and have yet to eat one of those things. And buy a fanny pack??? I'm going to need a few more MONTHS to work up to that!!! I thought it was funny to see them all run geeked out! A few last minute texts with the BFF and it was go time.
I stayed about mid pack for the start. I was emotionally okay until the Mayor said a prayer. I totally lost it! That stupid little voice told me to just bow out and go home. Who would know? No one! I turned on my Ipod and tried to focus on the music... Thankfully before I could sneak out, the race had started and I was moving... Although slow because 800 people surrounded me. But I started running the second my foot crossed the start line!
The start of the race was killer. A HILL!!! I was pretty excited by this point and ran up it like it was nothing. I honestly wasn't even out of breath. Still midpack.. YES!!!
The rest of the race was run on a trail I have trained on. I was excited about that because I knew where the turns were and what the terrain brought to my running game. I tried to keep up with someone I scoped out at the start line. Tried being the key word. I stayed close. I ran the whole race. The only time I ever walked was during the water station. A lot of people stopped for water and the racing staff was all over this small area. I almost had to walk. Everyone did. Of course the camera man sat on the other side of the water station. Why, I do not know!
Josh clocked me at 35:56. I'm not sure how totally accurate that is, but I know I saw 35:00 when I looked at the clock. I'm happy with that.
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