Race Recap - Town Day 5K for Davidson/Cornelius Day Care

Well, I've seen better days.  It all looked promising with my new running apparel, hot oatmeal and successful attachment of the timing contraption to my sneaker.  Pre-race was alright.  I was a little anxious....they posted a different course and there was a lot more people there than my first race, but still, all was well.  Kevin was happy taking pictures at the Farmer's Market and he promised to be at the finish line.  And then....we were off.

My friend, Eileen, was just ahead of me, and she slowed her pace so she could run with me for a bit.  1st mile was good.  Imagine my surprise when dude called out 9:35 at the mile mark....11 seconds off my previous pace!  I was in good shape to finish under 30.  Then WHAMMO.  The entire upper portion of my abdomen felt like it was under a vice-grip.  I couldn't breathe, I couldn't concentrate...holy stitch Batman.  I couldn't stretch it out, I couldn't breathe it out.  I had to do walk.  Then, when I started walking, ligaments started snapping over my ankle bone.  Not an uncommon thing, but not an easy thing to deal with.  It would have been okay if I could just relax my entire body, but the pain in my stomach combined with the pain in my ankles...all I could think of was "Well Shit.  How in the hell am I going to finish?"  I even dropped a few choice cuss words, and I apologize to all those around me...it was a family friendly event after all . 

Thankfully, Eileen stayed with me.  She didn't have too and I felt bad that she did, I mean, she gave up her own race because she was worried about me.  Don't get me wrong, I'm THANKFUL she did, because I don't know if I would have kept going if it was for her.  Then we made it to the around-3-mile-mark.  At that point you can hear the finish line.  Everything magically went away for a second.  It was like I felt my legs working for the first time in 30 minutes, and we crossed that wonderful red line...in 32:50-something.

Not the best morning.  And I was very disappointed I didn't beat my PR.  And then after some reflection, I've come to a conclusion and I said to myself "DUDE!  You're still a beginner.  You're still figuring this all out, and it takes longer than less than a year of running on a treadmill and 2 small races in the past 2 months.  Cut yourself some slack!"  So I've made up my mind to focus on the positive:
1)  I finished.  Looking back, I should be proud for finishing.  You see, my abdomen is still in pain.  Something must not have been right if it's still being ornery.  And I still finished. 
2)  A hug from a running mate always makes things better.
3)  I got a cool shirt.
4)  It was another experience that brings me another step closer to being a runner. 

So...when's the next one?