July in Texas feels nothing like Christmas. It is just too dag-gum HOT to inspire any sort of Christmasy type feeling. So all the Christmas inflatables at the Stonebridge Methodist Church parking lot on Saturday morning sure did make for an odd sight. However, if you ask me those inflatables are one of the WORST holiday decorations ever created...and I personally have created some pretty god awful Christmas decorations. I am hoping people forget the 6-pack holder wreaths and the soda can angels!
Anyhow, the attempt to create a Christmas feel in July was for a great cause. A 5K race to support the McKinney Food Pantry and to help spread some of the Christmas cheer mid-year! Even better it was close to home, a flat course and I needed a goal to keep me motivated to run in the heat of Texas summer. Yeah, I know...I'm crazy.
I knew it would be much more fun to be crazy with friends. So I sent out an e-mail to some of my gal pals who like to do a bit of running. Well, they don't ALL like to, but they are doing it anyway. I wasn't sure if I would get any takers as the over night lows were heading toward 75 degrees...can you really call that a low? Much to my delight, 5 of us all registered to run together!
So Saturday morning we all met at 6:45 ready to go. I wore my current favorite shirt that says, "Will Run for Margaritas." HA! It's true and it makes me smile....I think it even made me go faster. The last 5K I ran was this same course back in February. I ran with a friend and stuck with her to cheer her to the finish line in her very first 5K. It was awesome...and it was NOT HOT. This time I decided that although I had four fabulous gal pals running also I was just going to do this one at whatever pace I felt comfortable. So I took off..
I took off pretty fast too and there were people in my way. Had to bob and weave a bit to get around a few. Once I got some space I knew I was going fast, but I felt pretty good, so I decided not to worry about it. I found my "Purple Lady" fairly quickly. That's what I called her in my head anyway. Usually I try to find someone ahead of me in a race that I think it going at pace I can keep up with or at least not lose sight of entirely! For this race it was " Purple Lady." I kept in her my sights and even passed her at one point, and then she passed me and so it went. Actually, funny thing is I think I might have been ahead of her at the finish, but I was so worked up I lost track!
See the finish was an interesting moment for me. I knew I was booking...well, booking in the world of Kim at least. My handy dandy RunKeeper lady had given me my pace at the 1 and 2 mile marks and I knew I had a shot at finishing this race under 30 minutes. I had been secretly hoping that I could break 30 with this race...well not so secretly... as I can't keep any secrets from Joe, but I think he's the only one I told...I think. Anyhow, I was closing in on the finish and my adrenaline kicked in and strangely I felt a little nauseous ...that's new for me. And then "87 Chevy" by Zane Williams comes up as the song I am going to finish too. I love that song. I love Zane. I am happy. I am thanking God for all my blessings and now instead of feeling like I am going to throw up... I am about to start crying...BIG TIME. Then, I come around the corner and Joe and Joshua are there to cheer me to the finish. So NOW I am trying to run as fast as I can without throwing up or starting to all out bawl....all the while having massive amounts of adrenaline rushing through me. OMG! It was the most bizarre thing and it really caught me off guard. Needless to say my official chip time was 30:09. ALMOST! I think I could have done it if not for the wildly strange experience of the last half mile or so. It was the best time I have had in my adult running career so I will take it! And did I mention it was HOT! Maybe next year they can arrange for some Christmas snow to fall in July.
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