Okaay, so today started out eeeeeeeeeearly...Me, Maggie and Judy had to get in our 20 mile run on the day of the 10K. Inventive ladies that we are, we decided to run from Mechanicsville to the race start, about 14 miles...then run the 6.2 mile race, brilliant!
Because we had to be at the race start by 7:45am at the latest, we decided to meet at the gym at 5am, take care of last minute potty breaks and hit the road by 5:15am. This meant a 3:45am up time to eat and drink an hour before the run...ugh. It was tough because my pinched nerve in my back came back Friday afternoon and I was miserable.
I was up on time, ate, dressed, took out the dogs, woke the hub and off I went. Luckily Mr. Windchill was cooperating with the temp and 32 meant 32, not 26 like it was suppose "to feel like"...
My ensemble was my sporty new grey shorts with the bright lime green piping, a tank, bright lime green top and matching gloves. Of course since it was sooooooooooo dark, a headlamp, and 2 blinky red lights as well.
We took off from the gym at 5:15am and boy it was DARK. So dark that I couldn't even see Maggie or Judy who were running on either side of me. No moon, no lights, just dark and a spotlight from my headlamp.
Fresh out of the gate, as we were singing show tunes, Maggie scares us all with a scream and a hop...road kill on her shoe..Nice! Luckily it wasn't the skunk we smelled about a 1/4 mile later, ugh, not nice, not even at 5:30am when you can't see it.
We had a pleasant run down PG Road with a lovely potty stop for me at 7-11...I always wonder what people think when they see us crazy girls - we always get the look.
Our new neon lime green gloves ROCKED! They looked really cool as we pretended to "vogue" like Madonna in our spot lights - it was early, we are nuts, yes.
Now the long stretch down MB Rd....dark and through the "swamp"...
Let me say this about the swamp, Idon't like driving through there during the day and hold even more disdain for that area at 5:45am in the pitch black.
It didn't help that as we were running we hear a loud "ka-bang" on our left...and yes, we all picked up the pace...Judy thought for sure it was an animal...then on the right "ka-bang"...I thought for sure it was a gun shot into the water...or a zombie...but I am petrified of the dark and have quite the vivid imagination.
The next neato thing was the vicious dog barking...were they loose? They were getting closer...or were we getting closer to them? Whew, dog kennel...I knew I couldn't out run a Rottweiler no matter what.
We had a good stretch up the hill on A Ave, the dawn was beginning to break and most of the passerbys were able to see us now, not that they cared or pay attention.
At this point we have all stripped down to our bottom layers and gather our thoughts...time is ticking and we have to make the cutoff.
After a quick reroute and saving from the Bryan Park hill (thanks Judy) we were on the last long road before our final stretch.
My back was killing me and the pain was radiating down into my right leg but nothing was going to stop me from getting to my team for their first race. Thanks to my two great friends Judy and Maggie, and their encouragement and cheers, we made it! We were on Broad Street...the final length of our pre-dawn journey...Oh look, it's RLAM GVF...she looks awesome in her Cheetah print and long socks - cute girl. She ran for a stretch with us until we turned off on Harrison to head to the park. Go get 'em G!
We made our way through the crowds and to the park to meet the team. Faithful hub B was already there waiting and luckily helped me change into dry clothes.
The wait for the race start was long and cold but I don't even remember that now...
All I remember is a great day, that started with a great run with great friends...and an awesome race that was a new start for some inspiring people.
All the Keep It Movin' runners and walkers finished today with smiles and a sense of accomplishment.
They were amazing!
So what if there were a few bumps in the night, those were nothing compared to the fireworks at the end of the day!
Run safe, run happy!
-d
you are awesome! You looked super, I would have never guessed that you were in pain! Thanks for the shout out. I agree, it was an awesome day!
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