It was cold enough for all of us to have a red nose without any help from the plastic ones they provided, and it was misty/rainy, but that just makes it more fun to be able to say "I did it!" As my friend Joan loves to remind me, we're hard core!
They had only scheduled 30 minutes between the opening of registration and the beginning of the race, which I thought was a tight window...until we got there. There were only 22 people pre-registered for the race, and I think they said a total of 27 by the time the race started. I have to admit, this made me nervous! The more people you have in a race, the more likely there are others with my lightening speed. (aka...I won't be LAST)
Joan generously stayed with me for the whole race (she's MUCH faster than me), and I was bringing up the rear for much of the race, but I'm proud to say that I did not stop to walk at any point. It was a pretty challenging course, lots of hills to conquer, but it was a nice route through Roger Williams Park. Beautiful park! I'll have to go back there for some training runs. Toward the end, my slow and steady approach paid off a bit, and I think we ended up finishing ahead of 3 others.
I've been running with a Nike Plus running monitor, and it's kinda fun to see my distance, pace, calories and time at the end of each run. Yesterday's run cut 30 seconds off of my mile pace and clocked me at a personal best. Hopefully, that's a scenario that I continue to experience.
My training schedule calls for a 4 mile run this week. I just ran 3.5 for the first time last Sunday, so I'm a little nervous to add that half mile, but I'm surprised how much I'm actually enjoying this process.
Got my bike back after it's tune up, and I'll start rides to the training mix now. Much more fun than spinning wheels indoors!
Whether or not my body is going to keep up with my goals remains to be seen, but so far I'm learning a lot about myself and having fun. Hard to ask for more than that.
On a more somber note, my grandmother (who we called Tutu) passed away this week. She's had a long battle with Parkinson's Disease, and the last few years have not been an easy road for her. She is finally free of pain, and reunited with Grandfather and it's hard not to be happy when those two things are taken into account. Despite the sadness of loss, this is a time to celebrate the life she had, the love she shared, the family she created and the memories she left us. Rest in Peace Tutu.
