It's Official, Hell Has Frozen Over!

Why, you ask? Because I just ran a 5K and lived. Not only lived, but did a pretty dam good job! I can say that because I ran in the Dam Marathon, 5K. This year they had new dam courses, so new dam records could be set. The dam kid that won 1st place had a time of 16:35.....he ran 5:45 minute miles! Yaaaaaahhhh, I didn't. I posted my time below, but first you'll have to scroll through my story and pictures. :-) Take your dam time, this is an important moment in time.

Before the dam race: It was nice and cool, and I wasn't too worried--my first goal was to finish, and my second was to do it under 40 minutes.

The race started. I went further back in the pack to avoid getting tramped. Good thing, 'cuz once that starting horn sounded, a cluster of 17-18 year old took off. Like, sprinted. I don't think they ever stopped, hence the amazing new dam record. Those dam kids were pretty dam fast.

I handled the first dam mile like a champ, with help from Jon rocking in my ears. I did fine up until around 1.75. I was getting REALLY damn tired, so I walked for one minute. Exactly. I timed it.

After that, I started jogging again. Mile 2 went well--and just for the record, I don't believe there really is a "runner's high". I think you just go so numb that you can't feel the pain anymore. This occurred from dam mile 1.50 on.

At 2.90, the course went uphill and I continue to jog up it, intent on passing the dam little 12 year old runner in front of me. I made it to the top and saw the dam finish line. I passed Mile 3 and picked up my pace, mostly to make sure that 12-year-old wouldn't catch up. It was a slight downhill, so I was really picking up speed.

As I neared the dam finish line, an official jotted down my bib number and as I approached the finish line the MC announced my name and what race I had run. Luckily, my age was kept out of it. Amelia, Cooper, and Andy were waiting for me and Cooper gave me a high-5 as I passed. It was a lot of fun to cross the finish line with the dam volunteers and spectators yelling and ringing cow bells.

After I stopped running, I received a dam medal and went into the Runner's Corral which was stocked with water, fruit, smoothies, bread and chocolate milk. I felt super special as I collected some dam watermelon and water. All the vendors were congratulating the runners, and it made the pain (which was coming back now that my "high" was over) worth it.

 

I came out of the corral and was almost knocked over by Cooper. To be honest, it wouldn't have taken much to knock me over. My friend Shari was there and Ben, Kim and the boys showed up a few minutes later.

I have to say I'm relieved the dam race is over. While I wouldn't use the word "fun", it was an amazing experience and I'm proud I accomplished it. It is immensely gratifying to achieve a goal I've worked hard for, and to push myself past the limits I thought I had. Maybe I didn't get a runner's high, but I certainly had a "I-finished-and-did-pretty-good" one. While I doubt I will ever become a hard-core runner, I think I"ll certainly run a few more dam 5Ks before I die.

Who knows.....maybe even a dam 10K.

Here are my stats:

I finished in 34 minutes, 55 seconds. My pace was 11:15 a mile. I was 88th out of 126. For women, I was 40th out of 68. In my age class I was 6th out of 8th.