Run for the Gecko 5K

I did not want to get up this morning. 4:30, the alarm goes off and I crawl out of bed. I had put all my stuff together the night before (except for the camera, which I forgot...UGH!) I plopped down in front of the TV and a very full DVR hoping to catch up on at least 1 show. Sueann texted me that she was up, so I got around and got dressed, then finished watching my show and had an english muffin with laughing cow cheese. She gets to the house right about 5:30. We pull out of my driveway and I realized I had forgotten my shoes. Um, how am I going to run in my flip flops? I run back up to the house and grab my shoes, again forgetting the camera and we were off. It's a long drive to Melbourne, but Courtney had texted to see where we were so she and I went back and forth for a few. Right as we are coming up on the race site Jeanine and CC call to see where we were, we let them know Courtney was there and we found parking. We picked up our race packets and our chips and went over to the table the girls were at. We met 2 more girls from the boards! Suezette and Gail were there too! We all chat, then go put away our packets and meet back up before lining up. Jeanine and CC lined up some where in the 8 or 9 minute pace group and I went back to the 11 minute group with Sueann, still not knowing what to expect with my hip. I noticed they had my age wrong on my bib and tried to figure out who did the math on that. We never even heard them start the race, someone says I think it started, there are people moving. This was a large race, over 800 people. It took a couple of minutes to get over the start line. We start running and I'm trying to jack rabbit through ALL the people that were bunching up. I finally get to an open area and I catch my pace. I ran for over the first mile, then started taking walk breaks. Here's the thing, the hip wasn't what caused them. My calves were cramping up from I believe dehydration, it was HOT! They'd loosen up, I'd run some more. My hip didn't start flaring until the end when I tried to crank it up. I did better than my last 2 attempts, 32:24. Jeanine and CC were there to cheer me on. We cheered Suezette in, then Sueann, then Courtney, Gail and Nancy (a friend of Sueann's) We all went back over and met up at the pavilion, got some pics together and then headed out to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast. Nancy had family coming in and Gail and Suezette had a previous engagement, so the other 5 of us went and had a nice time. Sueann and I ended the morning at Sports Authority buying some new running singlets!

I'm now home, showered, ready for a nap but probably going to head to the store when Brendan goes down for a nap and I'll take the boys to the beach or park for a little bit after!


Back: CC, Sueann, Courtney, Suezette Front: Jeanine, me, Gail. We will all be running Space Coast together along with a few more people from our boards!