Give me 5K or give me...

(... don't finish that, please.)

I'm still alive!

And feeling super. :)

The storm blew through last night - hard. And this morning dawned cloudy and cool with a little breeze.



Perfect. 67 or so at race time, sun was muted and the lake was rippling just a little.



Registration was at 7, starting gun at 8. I got there about 7:15, and the parking lot was fairly empty near the starting line.



It filled up later.



Big turnout. The event poster makes it look like a smaller event than it was. There were loads of people registering behind me,



and as it was, I was given number 100 to wear.



(Nice number. No fives, but.. at least it's a multiple of 5.)

It was crowded at the start. Had to start off slower than I wanted, but it thinned out nicely by the first half-mile and I could run as I liked.


And the music in my iPod Shuffle was ideal!

Thanks to the Propellerheads and Doobie Brothers, I turned the first 1.5 in 13:10, a great time for me, and was able to skip ahead through most of the Pogues. (Sorry, fellas. Nothing personal.)

And even with shortening that, the "kick" music at the end wasn't entirely needed, either. When I rounded the last bend and saw the race clock read 29:07, I didn't need any help to turn it up a notch. :)

Besides, I was determined to finish ahead of those two slender college girls that I had been trading places with back and forth throughout the run. :P I thought: "Hey, if I can do this... so can you, girlie. Get that thing moving!" ;)

So, though I don't know my official time yet (photos and times will get posted on the web later), I do know it's roughly 30 sec. under my 30 minute goal. I'm still so excited. :D

Got the obligatory t-shirt from the race.



And a flyer for another race next Saturday, this time a benefit for inner-city kids. Hmm... Let me check my calendar...

Maybe I'm actually starting to like running. God help me - I must be really losing it.