The Cowtown 5k / the warm up for "The Big Show"

Now the work week is over. It's Friday evening. The night before the 5K race at Cowtown. All the same things running through my mind that so many other runners struggle with. I'm anxious about making sure my alarm is set to the correct time. Is AM or PM? I'd better go check a 4th just to make sure. Did I set out my new running shirt with the clothes I have picked out to run in? Did I pack enough gel packs? I GOTTA remember my phone! Crap! I don't remember packing my favorite socks! Gotta go check my overnight bag AGAIN! Then, I'm sooo wound up that I can't sleep and I get nauseated when the clock strikes midnight and I'm still wide awake. To my knowledge, I only got about 2 hours of sleep before the 4am alarm sounded to get dressed and make the 90 minute drive to Fort Worth. And my stomach is in knots the entire drive.

I arrive just before the sunrise to find that I am so early that I get to park up front right by the start/finish line. COOL!! Now, I get to watch all the experienced runners come in for the morning and see what they do to prepare for a challenge. The expo opens up just as I come walking across the lawn to the building and I'm overwhelmed with mass of people I see. The Cowtown website tells of thousands of people who run the race every year. But, the sight of them all has much more impact than I thought it would. I wasted some time looking around the expo and all the cool running gadgets and gizmos and the time finally arrives to start the 5K and the announcer makes the 15 minute warning announcement. I start making my way to the exit of the expo. MAN! I thought the expo was elbow to elbow! I got my first look at the crowded corrals. With a serious case of claustrophobia, I could tell I was gonna need to "go to my happy place". I plugged my earphones in and started playing my "running" playlist on my phone. As I made my way to the corral. I've got some people looking as my shirt and pointing while they talk to each other in the corral but, no one said anything to me. It's a good thing they didn't since I was feeling overwhelmed anyway. I stretched as I waited for the last few minutes to laps. And finally, time to run!! I've run so many 5k races. Why was I so concerned with THIS ONE? That's what I was telling myself.

As I ran and settled into a place among the crowd where I was comfortable, I started seeing people giving me thumbs up hand gestures as they passed me along the course. With temps unusually warm for February, I kinda figured I'd be a bit slow. But, I was OK with it. I was following Brad's advice and treating this 5K like a warm up for "The Big Show" the next day. As I crossed the finish line, photographers are in their strategic places and but I've never been a real observant one when it comes to my immediate surroundings. So rather then the pleasant look that most runners have in their photos, I looked like and asthmatic yeti. Oh well, I'm not in it for the glamour right?

Now for a banana and some pickle juice. You know you're a runner when you can take in both of these within the same 10 minute window. I insistantly started thinking about the race that I've been training for for 8 months now. The Cowtown Half.

But, I can tell you all about that in my next entry.

Cheers!