On July 3 at about 9:00 at night a few family members and
I headed north about 20 miles to Dunedin to the Kiwanis Midnight Run. I ran the 5K last year and signed up for the
10K this year. This was my first 10K
since December, which was my first one ever.
I had run 6.2 miles in training a couple times but not a lot. I felt prepared, though. I picked up my race packet and shirt and was
able to get one that was size large. Not
XL. Not XXL. Not XXXL.
Just L.
The 5K started a little before midnight and the 10K
started about 12:30. I began the course running
with my friend Lisa, but she quickly outpaced me. Go Lisa!
I kept running at my happy pace.
Here comes a drawbridge. So cool
to run over the metal grate and see the water directly below me! Ahhhhh!
Downhill! Such fun! A breeze!
Okay, now it's flat, hot, and humid again.
Blehh! We headed toward Honeymoon
Island State Park and, just like last year, it was nice to leave the city
lights behind and run toward moonlight on the water and quietness. The 5K runners turned around at some point
and the 10Kers kept on running. We
entered the park and it got even quieter.
Mmmmmmm!!! Love it! There was less of a breeze now, though,
because of woods around us. Still
nice. I wanted to hear the quiet so I
turned off my MP3 player. I heard frogs
so I quickly turned the music back on and made sure I stayed near the middle of the
road. I don't like am
irrationally terrified of frogs. They're
disgusting, ugly, gross, and creepy, and I have my three younger brothers to
thank for this irrational fear. I know
frogs can't hurt me, but I'd hurt myself trying to get away from one! I moved to the center of the road so that
if one was fool enough to jump onto the road from the shoulder, I'd see it
(hopefully) and have time to scream and do a funny weird little dance to
get out of its way.
Ahem. Moving
on. I tried a couple more times to run
without music but all I heard was frogs.
At one point I felt a sharp pain in my knee, but I prayed and asked God
to heal and strengthen it. The pain was
gone in a few steps. Thank You,
God!
There were luminaries lining the road since there are no light
posts out on the island. Very
pretty. At the turnaround point there was
a van parked sideways with a large American flag displayed on it and they were
playing Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA (since it was July 4th). Cool!
That gave me a little more momentum.
I finished the 10K in 1:23:09 at a 13:23 pace. That's almost a minute slower than the one I
did in December, but this one was run at midnight after a full day of being awake
and working (I got about a 2-hour nap in the afternoon). I had run the first part of this course in
last year's 5K, but otherwise it was unfamiliar. I ran the December 10K course at least twice
a week for a couple months in training, so I'm pleased with my results.
You inspire me! I'm 55% complete on the Lord's Table.
ReplyDeleteLinda Dickerson
Thank you, Linda! Congratulations on being more than halfway done! God and you can finish strong!
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