I left the house and ran to the gym (since I traded my car for the step tansu and that wouldn't give me a ride). I thought I had it timed just right, it was so cold & windy (yeah right, so cold...probably 52 degrees!) that I didn't want to stand around outside for too long before the start of the race.
Seems that nobody else wanted to wait around for too long either, because they started 3 minutes early. I was still signing in at the registration table when they left, and I got to the starting line 40 seconds or more after everyone else took off. I tried to catch up quickly and miraculously ended up staying in "chase mode" the entire time. I passed the walkers and started making my way through the runners. I saw my friends G & P and they said, "There you are! We were wondering about you!" I had given G. a hard time a few days earlier when she didn't want to do this month's run. I kept on running and passing people up...I just wasn't getting tired! Then I found my friend V. and said, "I'm here...I was 40 seconds late!" It was so windy that it felt like I was on a treadmill and moving as fast as I could but going nowhere. I was actually HAPPY when I got to go up the monster hill that takes up about 3/4 of the last mile, because the wind wouldn't be blowing directly at me. Thank goodness I finally got that long sleeved running shirt that David "surprised" me with! When I reached the top of the hill and it was leveling out, I saw this girl and thought, "What if that's the 3rd place woman and I'm this close and she gets her name on the bulletin board instead of me?" I thought it was pretty doubtful, because I didn't know how fast I was running (my Garmin died on the way to the gym) and I was too focused on running to actually look at my regular Timex watch, but I just didn't feel tired enough to believe that I had run that fast. Also, usually I get an idea of how many people are in the crowd before the start and kind of gauge off of that, but I didn't have that opportunity, so I had no idea how many people had already finished. But even so, I just really wanted to pass this girl, "just in case" and I don't know where it came from, but somehow I summoned up enough competitiveness or speed or both and passed her up. When I finished, I was really surprised when someone said, "This is the 2nd woman coming in now" and handed me a little laminated #2... I had started in very last place! The woman who took my name on the 1st-3rd place clipboard had still been telling me to stick around for the raffle (a massage gift certificate) when everyone else started running! I was so surprised and proud and happy! My time on the clock was slower than my last month's time, but my time on my watch (without the 40-something second delay) was 28 seconds faster than December.
And then, on Saturday night, we went bowling with my friend Katie, her husband and her sweetie pie 3 year old daughter Elizabeth. Elizabeth was way more interested in climbing on the swivel chairs than bowling, but participated when it was her turn. It turns out, I am quite a talented bowler! I think I got 3 strikes! (And that is good, not like in baseball) I started out in a tie with Elizabeth, but then I started to pull ahead... I ended up bowling a 104, which I believe is my highest score ever. When I was 22, I bowled my age. Last time I went bowling, I think I scored a 35 and then a 70. So that was a really super accomplishment! I'm still much better at Wii bowling though.
Oh, and just keep in mind that although I only beat the 3 year old by 23 points, she used bumpers and I didn't!
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