First Naked Race

Yesterday, my boyfriend and I set out to Fort Pulaski to run a 5k, the Run for Jane for the Leukemia events going on the next couple of weeks.  We noticed one dark cloud in the sky.  Right where we were going.

But, it's Savannah.  A lot of time rain just lasts 5 minutes and then it's done.  It started raining on the way in, so we thought we'd be fine.  Loaded up my iPod, Garmin, phone was in my pocket, he had his iPhone for music.  And then we're walking the half mile or so (they said quarter, but I think it was closer to half) from parking to the start line.  We're getting dripped on because it's through the woods on a trail, and water is dripping off the trees.  Then we realize it's starting to rain harder and harder, and we have hundreds of dollars worth of electronics on us.  Problem.

Well, it was a pretty small race, and we ended up finding a lady at the food tent who let us stuff our things in her bag.  We went over the timing mat about 2 minutes after everyone else had.  I was without music.  The only times I run without music are rare 30 minute training runs that my boyfriend does outside with me.  Not a full 5k that I'm actually trying to race.  So I knew it would be interesting.

Then the humidity hit me.  So, I'm aware that I live in Georgia and it's humid.  But I guess I didn't realize how much harder humidity made it to run.  I've been bad and doing all of my training runs on the treadmill.  That will now change, because I've learned how much I need to acclimate to the humidity! Especially for running 10 miles in Florida of all places.  It was also a train run and had just rained, so we were running on slick pavement, slick grass, and mud.  Running kind of went out the window, and we walked a lot.

We ended up in front of a group of what I think were soccer moms, and I decided my only goal was to beat them.  We also ended up leapfrogging with an administrator from my high school.  She left there in June and is now a local director for Girls on the Run.  So cool!  I'm considering volunteering with them, too.

Well somewhere just after mile 2, Ray stepped wrong and tweaked something in his back.  He kept slowing down, and the soccer moms were gaining. Finally he gave me the go ahead to keep going on my own (I walk faster than him anyway).  So I powered on running short bits where I could, and ended up finishing in 45:23.  It was a lot better than I was expecting, so I can live with it!

I don't like running without music, though.  It feels like it's a lot more work.  I need to get used to the humidity.  And I don't like trail runs.  Instead of trying to whine, I'm trying to take this as an educational experience!

What have you learned about yourself recently?
Lauren