5K: Take Two

Today I ran in the Jolly Jaunt, a 5K here in Massachusetts that benefits the Special Olympics. Great cause. Fun race.

Or so I thought……

Last year, I grabbed a hot chocolate after seeing Adrienne take off at the starting line, waited in the heated tent for awhile, then watched her finish.

This year, I was right there with her. Well, not right there. Right behind her. A kind of long ways behind her. Like about 15 minutes.

And holy C**P that was a hilly race! You have no idea when you see the last 40 yard of a race what the course really looks like. I should have probably taken that into account, no?

The course started out very deceiving. Nice and flat. Downhill even.

Then it just went up, and up, and up. For a good long while. And I thought it might never stop climbing.

And it was cold. Blustery, windy, cold and slushy. Just like I like it.

Riiiiggghhht.

I did a run/walk for most of the way. MOST of the way. I did stop briefly to determine the cause of my iPod malfunction. Nothing exciting, just a dead battery. Which left me to the thoughts in my head. It was kinda quiet.

And I stopped more than once because some tendon or muscle or something or other next to my knee that I never knew I had, started hurting like mad. I thought it might give out on my 40-something body, causing me to take a header into the slush puddles all around me.

But, regardless, I did finish. But how did I do?

Hmmmmm. I will say that I did about the same as the Feaster Five. A tiny bit slower even. But not much slower. So I can’t blame it on the sea of strollers and the walkers that I had to dart around during the Thanksgiving Day Race.

I guess I just run that slow. And that’s okay.

I can sum it up by saying that I finished behind a 50-something lady dressed as a Christmas present.

Yep. That's about it.