This race was held in the Riverdale Regional Park in Brighton, Colorado. It was my first time to this park, even though it’s a mere 30 minute drive from home. What a beautiful place to spend a morning!
The day before the race, I had some bad seafood. I was up most of the night feeling quite sick. I pretty much skipped dinner altogether. I went to the store and bought ginger ale, antacids, and saltine crackers. Could one carbload on saltines?
I had originally registered for the half marathon. My third FET had just failed. The progesterone and estrogen was still being flushed from my body, so not only was I incredibly poofy but also insanely hot. Like, hot flashes hot, not cute hot.
The morning of the race, I decided to get dressed anyway and just see how I felt. I already paid for the race, and it was a local race, so why not? I sat in the parking lot for a long while and when I saw the race organizers setting up, I ran over to the check in table. They allowed me to downgrade and I retreated to my car until the start of the race.
When it was time to go, I lined up with a small group of runners. They are mostly from the Rocky Mountain Road Runners club, which I also ended up signing up for when I signed up for the half marathon. Most everyone knew each other, so I was new to the group. One thing I was really looking forward to was the pancake breakfast served at the finish line. They even had finishers’ socks, which was neat.
After I started running, I found out pretty quickly that I was severely overdressed. It got so hot so quickly. I ended up tying my jacket around my waist and tossing it in the car after I finished. I headed over to the pancakes, loaded up, and found a stump to sit on while I devoured my first real meal in a day. Before I knew it, they announced my name as the first place 5K finisher for my age group. That’s pretty wild, but I’m also pretty sure that the small local race numbers worked in my favor.
I hope to register next time for the half marathon!
Amara in Training 