That day we accidentally ran a 10k

A while back, Steve and I signed up for the annual Wilma Rudolph 5k. There was also a 10k. And at one point in time (probably when the weather was 10 degrees cooler), I considered signing up for that. But then I just decided that there was no way I was motivated enough to train for that, so the 5k it was.

I hadn't been running in over two weeks. The weather got hot, we had errands to do, naptimes didn't line up, blah blah blah, insert every excuse here. But I remember thinking the night before, "At least it's only a 5k! I can plow through that fairly easy. It might not be pretty and our time might not be great, but I can definitely get through it." (FORESHADOWING)

The next morning, we got the kids up at the ass crack of dawn and left the house by 5:56. We picked up our packets and started stretching people-watching. I might sign up for more races just for the opportunity to people-watch. Because it was incredible.

After watching folks mill around and do their pre-race thing in neon spandex, we wandered over to the start line and headed towards the back, where our giant double stroller and slow pace (me) wouldn't get in anyone's way (ie, all the pros in neon spandex). We could hear the lady on the very muffled microphone saying something. People were talking and we were pretty far away, but we assumed it was something like "follow the signs and don't get hit by a car." So they blew the horn and off we go. We were passing folks left and right. Neon spandex folks. We were feeling pretty confident. This was fun! (minus the hills) I wonder why they're all starting so slow. It's only 3 miles!

The first mile came and went pretty quickly. We had an 8:32 pace on our first mile and knew that we could average a nine minute mile for the last two. Then the fact that I haven't jogged anywhere in two weeks got all up in my business and I was all, "WHOA lungs!" So that was uncomfortable. That, and drinking wine the night before might not have been the greatest idea either. Between mile two and three, I told Steve that I was so glad we only signed up for the 5k.

We approached a water stand and thought that was ridiculous. Pass. It's only three miles! And it's not even that hot yet. A nice gesture, but come on. Weak sauce.

We finally came upon the three mile marker sign. Woohoo! Only 0.1 miles to go! Except.... hmmm... I can't really see the finish line anywhere, can you? Are we even close to the church where we started? I didn't think 0.1 mile was this long. Am I really so out of shape that the last 0.1 mile is gonna do me in? Why is there another water stand? Do you think people in Clarksville think 5 kilometers and 5 MILES are the same thing? Surely a running club knows the difference. Let's jokingly ask this semi-elderly lady who's tearing this road up like a beast if we are somehow running a 10k.

"Haha! You thought this was the 5k? That doesn't start until 8:30! But hey, you're almost to the 4-mile marker now, so you're over halfway done! Bye!"

Good Lord y'all. No one told us the 5k didn't start until 8:30. The website I registered on only said the race started at 7. The people I picked up my packet from didn't tell me anything. The microphone lady was muffled and God only knows what she said. So hey, let's run a 10k?

Steve was so awesome about it all. He can obviously run a 10k very easily and was doing his best to encourage hasn't-run-in-two-weeks me. He said things like, "Honey, I'm so proud of you for plowing through and finishing a 10k!" Yeah ok thanks, I'm gonna walk now.

So we walked for a bit. Off and on. We finally took those water station people up on their offers. We joked about how we were running the wrong race. We almost stopped at a yard sale. We were passed by a very fast-moving and very PREGNANT lady. Also, lots of really old people. We laughed every time, knowing that yes, this is embarrassing, but also, no, we don't care. We had a lot of fun. We didn't finish last, and we consider that some sort of accomplishment.

Thanks to all of our leisurely walking (it's not like our timing chips were even activated on that race), our average pace was about 12 minutes/mile. We crossed the finish line really strong (yay downhill!) and had a lot of folks cheering for us. We even got a "War Eagle" (thanks to Steve's shirt).

The lady who originally informed us we were running a 10k was still at the finish line cooling down and she congratulated us on finishing. We stood around drinking some water for a minute and then watched the 5k folks line up and get ready to run. Some people were doing both races. We just laughed and went back to the car. We had donuts to get.

Priorities. We have them.

Also, showers. We need them.

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