Afoot and Light-Hearted...

Sunday morning arrived...with clouds overhead. While the day started out 'ok', we knew we were in for some bad weather. The news had been predicting rain for the past few days. There is always a hope that it will pass or move slow enough to not ruin one's plans. Not quite. We lined up in the starting area for the 5K, and just as the final announcements were being made - the sky OPENED UP. There was no mercy on us, it was pouring. Rain does something to people though - don't you think? As we stood there waiting, most of us were strangers to each other. However, as soon as it started to rain we all looked around and started to laugh a bit. While the sky got darker - the crowd got a little 'lighter' in spirit. Comradery at hand, we were now all in this together - through better or worse right? The roads were almost immediately flooded and the potholes became our obstacles. We were looking out for each other though - it was almost as if it was us against the e...

Tomorrow - May 15, 2011, I will run in the Janis Bresnihan 5K Run for Education in my Town (Ayer, MA). This will be the fourth year that I have run in this event. The run is quite nice and is well staffed and organized (two water stops and lots of folks cheering along the way!). It ends with a nice lunch served (burgers and hot dogs) along with plenty of post race comradery. This morning, while eating my oatmeal, I was thinking back on this run and what it has meant to me personally as a runner (see, I called myself a runner). While I could sit here and talk about getting a PR on this route after so many years, my thoughts go back over the years on my personal performance. When I first ran in this event, I barely finished (the last mile is entirely uphill - yes, uphill. There was the year where I didn't finish it at all - I stopped at my house (the run goes by my house, a little too convenient when the "I can't" crept in on me). My husband gave me a ride back up ...