Beach Day

This morning I got up at 4:40 to meet my friend, Brenda, to drive to a 5K along Misquamicut Beach.  This is not a big deal, we've run at least 3 races together before today ..  4:40 am is a new all time "early" for a 5K though.

I prepared last night - shoes, socks, phone holder, 5K belt and before the alarm went off I snuck down the hall in our bedroom to the bathroom and got dressed. Teeth brushed and hair tucked up haphazardly into a ponytail I tiptoed down the stairs, grabbed my bag and sat in the downstairs bathroom to put my shoes on .. all in the name of not disrupting the shut eye of the family dog.

It was chilly this morning as we headed to check in .. we get to the tent and the woman asks "Do you have your ID?" .. "Um... in the CAR" after a brief little issue locating me in the computer (R-O-M-A-N-S-K-I) Brenda and I were numbered up and headed back to the car to sit with the heat on for a few minutes.  The final Musketeer, Don,  joined us and we plotted our race strategy.  "Finish"  

We took a quick walk up to the beach since we would be watching the road while we were actually running and not getting distracted by the views. 

Then we started back towards the starting line .. there was a Half Marathon starting 10 minutes before the 5K.  There were SO MANY people lined up, the starting line is up by those columns of balloons. 

The gun fired and we were off down Atlantic Avenue.  Someone was cooking bacon, that seemed unusually cruel, then a bit further down the road SKUNK, then the one mile surfboard. Runners were starting the loop back now, at first just a few then the volume grew.  I'm concentrating at this point, one foot in front of the other, head up, elbows in, relaxed .. then I hear my name .. OMG someone KNOWS me - ugh!  Thankfully it is that sweetheart friend of mine, Mary, who has been encouraging me along this journey.  Ah ... the turnaround, the water stop, we're still running .. usually we have to stop and walk at least once or twice ... then the 2 mile surfboard. Over half way there! At this point, no, I'm sure it was earlier than this, I was wishing that I had taken off my running jacket .. thought about sliding my arms out and letting the empty sleeves flap like wings.... decided against that but made my friends PROMISE to remind me not to run in that again.

It was about mile 2.5 that I fell into a groove, my arms and legs just moved together effortlessly.  A woman from the race staff encouraged us as we rounded the corner "You're almost there - the finish line is just ahead"   I could hear the announcer but hell if I could see the finish line ... right foot, left foot, right foot .. then I hear my name again .. there is that Mary, complete with her entourage spurring me on towards the finish line, yes, I can see it now .. .. as we are just about crossing the timing mat I hear the guy on the mic say "smile for the camera, Ladies"  and then "Oh I can see that's the picture on this year's Christmas Card" Yeah, sure you say that to all the girls.

We finished, we improved our pace, we ran the entire time and, truth be told, it was fun and we're planning on doing it next year!

Oh and we got a MEDAL ... How about a "like" for the BLING