Not Last

That's right. I ran/walked  a 5K race today, and I was not last. In fact, I was seventh.

When I signed up for the race, I knew it would be cold, but I didn't expect the icy day that ended up happening. Neither did the race coordinators. As the race date approached, I was watching the weather. It was going to be the coldest day of the month. In preparation, I bought cold weather running gear and kept watching the weather. 

People asked on the race's Facebook page about possible cancellations/postponements, but organizers insisted that the only reason they would cancel would be because of lightning. So I prepared myself for the worst and was definitely going to be bundled. (Two dri-fit shirts, an undershirt, dri-fit sports bra, two pair of leggings, two pair of socks, neoprene gloves, ear warmers...you get the picture.)

Late Friday night, after I had pulled all the tags off of the gear, I found out the race that WOULD NOT be EVER postponed, was postponed. The organizers were worried about people driving on bad road conditions. Instead, they moved the race to Sunday afternoon.

                                           

When I left for the race, I realized that it was actually perfect running weather. Not a lick of heat and no wind either. I wore both shirts knowing that I would have to take off the top layer.

At the rest, I was greeted by several church and work friends. It was a comfort knowing I wasn't running alone. Half way through the race, sure enough, the top shirt had to come off, but I din't want to stop so I did it as I ran. I had to take off an arm band that held my phone, pull the shirt off which had my bib number and tie it around my waist with the number showing on my backside. I had to reattach my armband. So I think if I hadn't had to strip, I would have been a skosh faster. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I will continue running throughout January. The next race is the end of February. I am looking FORWARD to it.