I feel good!

This morning I drove to the Race for Pace in chilly temps, some gusts of wind, and a drizzle. Fortunately, the rain stopped about 30 minutes before the race started, and you could even almost make out the sun behind some clouds. But the wind did blow off and on.

I ended up wearing the Superman shirt and cape with a long-sleeved pink Under Armour shirt underneath (it clashed, but I figured the pink made it more Supergirlish). I wore navy leggins/tight-like capris with gray shorts with teal borders over the leggins. It was a look, let me tell you. I had a windbreaker on, but I decided just before the gun went off, that I did not need it, so I tied it around my waist.

This was the first 5k I had run with an iphone playing music. I think it helped. I was singing (mouthing the words) for first mile or so. Eventually that ended. I also started off smiling, because I felt good. Maybe it was the Superman shirt or cape...

My family was supposed to be waiting near the end of the race, just before the final (awful!) hill, but they actually got there just before the race started, so I got to see them during my first minute too. That was great. If they had not been on the other side of the road, I would have thrown them my windbreaker, since it was serving no purpose.

Throughout the race, I tried to run a little faster down the hills to try to make up for how slowly I run uphill. I am 95 percent sure I can walk up a hill faster than I can run, but I refuse to walk.

When I got to the halfway point, I checked the time and was shocked to see it was only 9:13 (the race started right on time at 9 a.m.). I knew there was no way I could ran back as fast, but at that moment, I was pretty sure I could run the race in 30 minutes, maybe less. That really helped propel me.

The final 1/2 mile (maybe even less than that, but I felt like a mile) was brutal, up the biggest hill. My family was not at the bottom, but I figured they were just close to the top.

Even though my pace was super slow, I saw that it was 9:25, so I figured surely I could make it up the hill in five minutes. Seeing my family within a minute or two helped, and I pushed as much as I could, considering I was running faster than I normally do during my weekly runs.

When I reached the top, I only had to run down the driveway, which is probably a couple hundred feet. I had almost nothing left to give, but I could see the clock at just over 28 minutes, so I ran (which was more like a fast jog).

I ended up finishing in about 29:21. I was smiling (and panting, and sweating, and could barely walk).

But I had a good race. I am really proud of myself.

And, almost best of all, I got a medal for first place in my group.

Yeah, SuperGirl. As a friend on Facebook said, it must have been the cape.