I found a perfect parking spot close to the Lindell Boulevard Elementary School. Driving off at the end of the race won't be an issue. I picked up my packet inside the gym at around 8:15. As time went on, the gym got pretty crowded. I went to the bathroom and recognized a couple to be the brother and sister-in-law of a friend. I said hello, but noticed the SIL was kind of taken aback when she looked at my face. My eye!!! When I looked in the mirror, I noticed some crusting at the corner. Totally gross. Hopefully, I won't ever see her again in my life.
I went outside at 8:45. It was gray and misting, but at least it wasn't freezing rain. The temperature was about 40. I was happy to see the FLRRT truck. They are great with starting on time and posting the results fairly quick. We started at exactly 9am. There were clocks at each mile. Mile 1 I hit around 7:50. A surprise because I thought I was cruising a bit faster. I got to Mile 2 at 15:xx and Mile 3 at 23:xx. I knew this was not going to be a PR day at that point. The last half mile of the race I thought I would sprint to the finish. Wrong. Suddenly and for no apparent reason, I started gagging and dry heaving. Lovely. Talk about being a total disaster. What the fuck? If it's not coming out one end, it's coming out the other. Too much information? Such are the highs and lows (well, I guess just lows) of running. I kept going to the end, praying the whole time there were no race photographers. I can see it now. They post my closeup on Facebook or the local patch, red eyes and the "I'm gonna hurl" face. That would be reason enough to consider moving far, far away. I finished in 31:09, 2nd place in my age group. Eh.
This is what my left eye looked like. At least the swelling went down.
Nice blue cotton race shirt.
Packet pickup inside the Lindell gym
Start and finish on the bay
Congrats on your race. I'd be thrilled with your time! Loved the writeup. Sorry about the pink eye...
ReplyDeleteThank you!!!
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