Sweet Corn and Watermelon

So, Saturday morning was the 10K for the Sweet Corn and Watermelon Festival. My alarm went off, and I thought about how much I did NOT want to get out of bed. So, I got dressed and ate my little bowl of oatmeal, all the while dreading the hilly course. Never mind that I'm still gaining weight and felt like a bloated mess.

When the race started, I was running with Barbie for about the first half mile, give or take. We were dead last when the race started. Let me just tell you how much I hate hearing the ambulance behind me during a race. HATE that!! I heard it for the first 2 miles...
So, Barbie takes off and I continue to plod along, but I really didn't feel bad at all. Just hated being so close to last. Damn High School kids!!

The weather couldn't have been better, though. The race was well organized, and there were plenty of volunteers and water stops.
The cross country coach from the kids' school was working one of the water stops, and he was an excellent cheerleader! Kept me going at mile 4 when I was ready to walk up the rest of the hills!

So, before the race started, Barbie decided that we should go and talk to the super-fast guy who wins all of the local races. He was really nice, and it was nice to meet a new person. At about mile 5, he was running out for his cool-down, and ran back in the last mile with me, cheering me on all the way. Wow! Talk about a huge help! I needed that, I was slowing down by the second until then!

So, I finished in 56:39. This is 1 minute 42 seconds slower than my last 10K, but still a respectable 9:08/mile pace. Still, out of 50 runners, 35 or so of them High School kids, I finished 47th!!! Can you believe it? What the hell?! But, ya gotta love small town races, I still won 1st place amongst 30-34 year old women... 1st out of 1. But, it's still a win!!

And, I am now committed to stop being such a slacker!!
Let's see if I stick with it.