5K North Creek Explorer December 18. 2010

Well, well, well. I've been having so much fun at the gym that I wasn't very interested in racing. I'd promised my friend Tina that I would run with her though and I like to keep promises, as best as I can. It's the biblical thing to do. God lent me His grace and I started to get excited about the race though and I'm glad I showed up and laced up.

There was a deluge of rain in our town today and I was so disappointed. I'd started running more at the gym and my knee pain returned so I went thru all kinds of emotions throughout the day. I was relieved on one hand to have an excuse to not show up but would have been disappointed not to actually run. I'm pretty sure that the knee pain is hardly anything to worry about though. The orthopedist said that didn't concern him at all. He says that it's completely normal for me to have some minor pain. I think the recent cold weather for FL aggravated it also. I don't stretch enough either. I keep forgetting!

So the humidity was terrible today after the rainy day. The humidity was 96% and it felt like 200% to me. I have asthma and it is very difficult for me to run in humidity. I was gasping for air five minutes into the race. It was terrible. It's hard to describe. It's somewhat akin to being in a sauna room in a gym with a bag over your head. Blah.

I waved Tina and Jimmy on and told them to keep running. I was so thrilled that they were running so well. I wanted to see just how well they would do.

It was a very small race though so that meant I got very lonely. 155 folks showed up for race day.

The previous races I have participated in have had an average of 1000 participants. I have always had a lot of company but there were many stretches in this race in which I was all alone. :( I'm a loner by nature and had no idea that I like running with a pack! There was a lady in her late 30s and her young daughter perhaps; they hung out with me here and there. I'd pass them and then they'd pass me. We went on and on like that for about 2 1/2 miles. Alas, I tried to outrun them in the end and failed. :(

IT CERTAINLY DIDN'T HELP FOR FIDO TO SHOW UP NEAR THE END OF THE RACE. I'm afraid of dogs and I had a run-in with a mean Doberman 37 years ago and an ugly dog in 2009. I ended up donning a baseball bat in 2009 and threatened the ugly thing with nasty words and promised him great harm. The ugly cowardly dog finally backed away. Fido was taller than the ugly dog though and I wasn't as confident. It's very daunting to run past a tall fierce looking dog. I yelled out for help from the police manning the race nearby but they couldn't hear me. I stopped running and timidly walked past Fido and all was well. Thank you, God!

Despite the smothering humidity, I was glad I laced up and showed up.

With all my troubles, I ended up running seven seconds slower than my last 5K on March 20, 2010. I finished number 7 of 12 in my age group. I'm disappointed but I shouldn't complain, being an older asthmatic runner of 43 years of age, who has only been running for 10 months. I couldn't run for four months, and had physical therapy. I just started running again four months ago. Fortunately, I've had no knee pain since race day.

I am so proud of our son Jimmy. He ran 38:54 on March 20, 2010 and yesterday he ran 34:25! How cool is that? He probably could have had a much better time but he stopped three times to re-tie his shoes. :)

My BFL, Tina, ran 33:55. This was her first race. I'm so proud of her. What a trooper!

I love God for giving us this fun hobby.